Kyiv says recapture of Izyum district 'ongoing' in east Ukraine | The Straits Times

KYIV – Ukrainian forces kept pushing north in the Kharkiv region and advancing to the south and east of the country after the swift fall of Russia’s main bastion in the north-east, Ukraine’s army chief said on Sunday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed Russia’s retreat from the city of Izium in the Kharkiv province as a breakthrough in the six-month-old war, saying this winter could bring more rapid gains of territory if Kyiv can get more powerful weapons. “In the Kharkiv direction, we began to advance not only to the south and east, but also to the north. There are 50km to go to the state border (with Russia),” Ukraine’s chief commander General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi said on Telegram. He said the country’s armed forces have regained control of more than 3,000 sq km since the beginning of this month. The fall of Izium marked Russian forces’ worst defeat since they were pushed back from the capital Kyiv in March, as thousands of Russian soldiers left behind ammunition and equipment as they fled. “I believe that this winter is a turning point, and it can lead to the rapid de-occupation of Ukraine,” Zelensky said in comments to a political forum published on his…
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