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Ukrainian officials claim interest in counterattack against Russian forces

Ukrainian officials on Saturday announced major gains in a counter-offensive against Russian forces in the country’s northeast, saying the Ukrainian military had cut off vital supplies to a front-line hotspot .

The reports follow several days of clear advances south of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, in what could become the biggest battlefield success for Ukrainian forces since they stopped them. Russia’s attempt to capture the capital Kyiv at the beginning of the nearly seven-month war.

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko said that Ukrainian troops had recaptured Kupiansk, a town along the main supply route to Izyum, which has long been the focal point of the Russian front and the site of artillery battles. heavyweights and other skirmishes.

Nikolenko tweeted a photo showing soldiers from Ukraine’s 92nd Separate Mechanized Battalion standing in front of what he said was a government building in Kupiansk, 73 kilometers north of Izyum.

A Ukrainian soldier stands on top of a tank in Kharkiv on Friday. (Photo by Juan Barreto/AFP/Getty)

The Security Service of Ukraine, known as the SBU, a few hours later posted a notice that it said its forces were in Kupiansk, adding that it had been captured by Ukrainian troops. Ukrainian troops did not immediately confirm their entry into the town, a railway hub that Russia seized in February, when its mayor surrendered to avoid civilian casualties.

Late Saturday, social media videos that began to go viral also showed Ukrainian forces in the countryside on the outskirts of Izyum at a roadside checkpoint. A large statue bearing the city’s name can be seen in the footage. Ukrainian forces did not acknowledge the capture of the city.

Russia’s Izyum regional forces ‘increasingly isolated’

Earlier, on Saturday, the British Ministry of Defense told reporters it believed the Ukrainians had advanced as far as 50 kilometers south of Kharkiv, and described Russian forces around Izyum as “increasingly isolated” .”

The British military said: “Russian forces could be taken by surprise.

Ukrainian soldiers sit on top of an armored military vehicle as they drive in Bucha on Thursday. (Emilio Morenatti / The Associated Press)

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, also referenced the gains from Ukraine on Saturday, estimating that Kyiv had captured about 2,500 square kilometers in its foray to the east. their north.

The institute says it appears that “Russian forces are disorganized [were] They cited on social media clear images of Russian prisoners taken during the offensive around Izyum and surrounding towns.

The same report said that Ukrainian forces “could knock out Russian positions around Izyum if they cut off Russian ground communication lines” north and south of the town.

Moscow did not immediately acknowledge or comment on the claims of Ukraine and its Western allies. However, Vladislav Sokolov, head of the local government appointed by Russia, said on social media that the authorities in Izyum have begun evacuating residents to Russia.

The fighting in eastern Ukraine comes amid an ongoing offensive around Kherson in the south. Analysts say Russia may have sent troops from the east to reinforce around Kherson, giving the Ukrainians an opportunity to attack a waning front line.

Ukraine’s Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told Ukrainian TV channel that the Russians had no food or fuel for their troops in the region because Kyiv had cut off their supply lines.

“It will be like an avalanche,” he said, predicting a Russian defeat. “A line of defense will shake and it will collapse.”

Ukraine’s military is more cautious about reported profits, in a regular update on Saturday claiming that it had taken “more than 1,000 square kilometers” from pro-Kremlin forces this week. It said that “in some areas, Self-Defense Force units penetrated enemy defenses to a depth of 50 km”, in line with the British assessment, but did not reveal any details. which geography.

Zelenskyy only goes to reclaimed settlements

Officials in Kyiv have for weeks been tight-lipped about their plans for a counter-offensive to retake territory occupied by Russia at the start of the war, urging local residents to refrain from sharing information on social media for fear of influence. to the activity in progress.

However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a nightly address Friday that Ukrainian troops have recaptured more than 30 settlements in the Kharkiv region since the start of the counter-offensive.

Damaged residential buildings in Mariupol, Ukraine, are seen in a photo taken Thursday. (AFP/Getty Images)

“We are gradually taking control of more settlements, returning the Ukrainian flag and protection to our people,” Zelenskyy said.

He spoke after Ukraine’s governor Kharkiv reported that the national flag had been raised over Balakliia, a town recaptured by Ukrainian troops on Thursday after six months of Russian occupation.

“Balakliia is Ukraine! Today, together with the army, led by the Commander of the Ground Forces Oleksandr Syrskyy, we raised the flag of Ukraine,” governor Oleh Syniehubov wrote on Telegram.

Elsewhere, Ukraine’s emergency services announced that a 62-year-old woman was killed in a Russian missile attack in the Kharkiv region overnight. It is said that her body was found buried in the rubble of the house, which had been flattened by the strike.

Syniehubov, the regional governor, also accused Moscow of defeating settlements recaptured by Kyiv in recent advances, along with other settlements in the region. He said in a Telegram post that five civilians were hospitalized in the Izyum district, while nine others were injured elsewhere in the area.

In the crowded Donbas region south of Kharkiv, the Ukrainian governor said civilians were killed and wounded overnight by Russian shelling near the city of Bakhmut, a key target of Russia’s offensive there. Pavlo Kyrylenko said on Telegram that two people had died and two others were injured in Bakhmut and the neighboring village of Yahidne.

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