Ukraine troops sweep ahead after Russian collapse in northeast

UNRAVELLING

Ukraine’s swiftest advance since driving Russian forces away from the capital in March has turned the tide in the six-month war, unravelling in a matter of days swathes of the gains Moscow had achieved in months of costly fighting in the east.

Ukrainian chief commander General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said his troops had retaken more than 3,000 sq km this month, advancing to within 50km of the border with Russia.

Further Russian retreats, especially east of the Oskil, could soon put Ukrainian forces in position to attack territory that Russia and its local proxies had held since 2014.

Denis Pushilin, leader of the pro-Russian separatist proxy administration in Donetsk province, acknowledged pressure from multiple directions.

“At the very least, we have stopped the enemy at Lyman,” he said in a post on Telegram overnight, referring to a frontline city east of Izium. “We’ll have to see how that develops. But our boys have had clear successes.”

He also described “successes” in fighting at Bakhmut, where Russia had long been concentrating its offensive, and Vuhledar further south.

Moscow has so far remained largely mute since its frontline collapsed in the northeast last week, with President Vladimir Putin and his senior officials withholding any comment on the “special military operation” they have always said was “going to plan”.

After days of making no reference at all to the retreat, Russia’s ministry of defence acknowledged on Saturday that it had abandoned Izium and neighbouring Balakliia, in what it called a preplanned “regrouping” to fight in Donetsk.

Russian broadcasters, required by law to report only official accounts, have alluded to the setbacks but struggled to explain them, with commentators mainly demanding a redoubled war effort.

“We must win the war in Ukraine! We must liquidate the Nazi regime!” one commentator said on a panel show on NTV television.

“And how many years is that supposed to take?” replied another. “So my 10-year-old children will get a chance to fight?”