Reports of chaos abounded as Russian troops pulled out - as well as claims that they were surrendering en masse. “The movement of our troops continues,” he said. Late Monday, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said his troops had so far retaken more than 6,000 square kilometers (2,300 square miles) - an area more than twice the size of Luxembourg - in a matter of weeks. But there were no immediate reports of a sudden uptick in Russian attacks. In the face of Russia’s largest defeat since its botched attempt to capture Kyiv early in the war, Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said troops were hitting back with “massive strikes” in all sectors. Momentum has switched back and forth before, and Ukraine’s American allies were careful not to declare a premature victory since Russian President Vladimir Putin still has troops and resources to tap. In one video, border guards tore down a poster that read, “We are one people with Russia.” It was not yet clear if the Ukrainian blitz, which unfolded after months of little discernible movement, could signal a turning point in the nearly seven-month war.īut the country’s officials were buoyant, releasing footage showing their forces burning Russian flags and inspecting abandoned, charred tanks. “They were trying to catch up,” she said. Some Russians appeared to have been left behind in the hasty retreat. “They were fleeing by any means they could.” “They left like the wind,” Honchar said Tuesday after loading cans of food aid into her car. In the newly freed village of Chkalovske in the Kharkiv region, Svitlana Honchar said most of the occupying forces had been stationed in the nearby forest rather than the village. Capturing it would give Kyiv the opportunity to disrupt Russian supply lines between the south and the eastern Donbas region, the two major areas where Moscow-backed forces hold territory. Melitopol, the second-largest city in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia region, has been under Russian occupation since early March. He did not immediately provide photo or video evidence for his claims. Russian troops were also abandoning the southern city of Melitopol and heading toward Moscow-annexed Crimea, the city’s pre-occupation mayor said.Ĭolumns of military equipment were reported at a checkpoint in Chonhar, a village marking the boundary between the Crimean peninsula and the Ukrainian mainland, Mayor Ivan Fedorov wrote on Telegram. Russia acknowledged that it has withdrawn troops from areas in the northeastern region of Kharkiv in recent days. KHARKIV, Ukraine (AP) - Ukrainian troops piled pressure on retreating Russian forces Tuesday, pressing deeper into occupied territory and sending more Kremlin troops fleeing ahead of the counteroffensive that has inflicted a stunning blow on Moscow’s military prestige.Īs the advance continued, Ukraine’s border guard services said the army took control of Vovchansk - a town just 3 kilometers (2 miles) from Russia seized on the first day of the war. Ukrainian troops keep up pressure on fleeing Russian forces

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