KRAMATORSK – Ukraine said on Monday its forces had gained even more ground in the past 24 hours, retaking an area seven times the size of Kyiv this month, as Russia responded by attacking some recaptured areas.
The territorial shifts marked one of Russia’s biggest turning points since its troops were pushed back from Kyiv at the start of nearly seven months of fighting, but Moscow has signaled it is no closer to a negotiated peace.
The withdrawal of Russian troops in recent days has drawn tearful and relieved residents to bomb-riddled streets, including the strategic but badly damaged town of Izyum on Sunday.
“It’s not enough to say I’m happy. I just don’t have enough words to express myself,” said Yuriy Kurochka, 64.
But on Monday, Moscow announced air, missile and artillery strikes on reclaimed areas in the Kharkiv region, a day after Kyiv said Russian attacks on electricity infrastructure caused blackouts.
The retaliatory fire came as Ukraine said forces had retaken more than 20 other settlements and claimed “Russian troops are hastily abandoning their positions and fleeing”.
Kyiv had already announced the recapture of Izyum in the east of the country, while President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Monday that Ukrainian forces had retaken a total of 6,000 square kilometers (2,320 square miles) from Russian control in September.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Monday that Ukraine’s armed forces had made “significant progress” due to their resilience and US support.
“It is still too early to say exactly where this is going. The Russians maintain very large armed forces in Ukraine, as well as equipment, weapons and ammunition, which they have seen,” Blinken said.
A US think tank, the Institute for the Study of War, tweeted: “Ukraine has turned the tide in its favor, but the current counteroffensive will not end the war.
Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told French daily Le Monde in an interview on Monday that the war with the help of Western weapons had entered a new phase.
Moscow has admitted losing territory – what experts saw as a blow to its war ambitions – but Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said there was no prospect of negotiations.
“The special military operation continues and will continue until the initially set goals are achieved,” he added, using Russian terminology for internationally condemned war.
WEAPONS FOR UKRAINE
Russian attacks hit 15 sites on Sunday, from Kramatorsk in the east to Mykolaiv in the south and Dnipro in between, the Ukrainian military said.
Ukraine had already lost all power from the Russian-controlled Zaporizhia nuclear power plant, which had been bombed since the February invasion.
The national nuclear energy agency said the last reactor at the plant – Europe’s largest nuclear power plant – had been shut down for safety reasons.
Kyiv and Moscow have shown “signs of interest” in creating a safe zone around the facility, the UN nuclear watchdog said on Monday.
“What we really need here is for Ukraine and Russia to agree on a very simple principle of not attacking or bombing the facility,” the IAEA director general of the agency Rafael Grossi told reporters.
But later on Monday, Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said the only way “to ensure the nuclear safety and security of the Zaporizhia nuclear power plant is to get rid of it, demilitarize and return it to Ukrainian control”.
“All IAEA efforts should be aimed at achieving this goal,” he wrote on Twitter.
The speed of Ukraine’s counterattack apparently took the Russian military by surprise, sending back to kyiv parts of the territory that Moscow had controlled for months.
Images posted by the Ukrainian military showed crates of ammunition and military equipment strewn across the area deserted by Russian forces.
Around the town of Balakliya, AFP journalists saw evidence of heavy fighting with destroyed or damaged buildings and mostly deserted roads.
Ukrainian authorities also said they found four bodies of civilians bearing “signs of torture” in the recaptured village of Zaliznychne.
Local residents reported that Russian troops had killed villagers, the regional prosecutor’s office said.
Ukraine’s foreign minister used the momentum of the country’s resistance to call on Western allies to stockpile more advanced weapons.
“Guns, guns, guns have been the order of the day since the spring. I am grateful to the partners who answered our call: Ukraine’s successes on the battlefield are ours,” said Dmytro Kuleba.
- Editor/ additional report by AFP/Le Monde
