Register
- This content was produced in Russia, where the law restricts coverage of Russian military operations in Ukraine
MOSCOW, Sept 12 (Portal) – A Russian-deployed official in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region said on Monday that Ukrainian forces outnumbered Russian and pro-Russian forces by eight times during a lightning counter-offensive over the weekend.
Ukrainian forces overran Russian supply centers at Izium and Kupiansk over the weekend, Russia’s worst military defeat since its forces were pushed back from Kyiv shortly after President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine.
Speaking to state TV channel Rossiya-24, Vitaly Ganchev said that Ukrainian forces had captured previously Russian-held settlements in the north of the region and broke through to the border with Russia, and that “about 5,000” civilians had been evacuated to Russia.
Register
Ganchev said “the situation is getting more difficult by the hour,” adding that the border with Russia’s Belgorod region is now closed.
Portal could not immediately verify battlefield reports.
The Russian Defense Ministry released a map on Sunday showing that Russian forces had almost completely evacuated the Kharkiv region.
In the Russian-controlled Kherson region of southern Ukraine, where a slowing offensive by Kiev’s forces has reaped modest gains in recent weeks, a Russian-installed official said there was no cause for concern.
“There is no panic in Kherson,” Kirill Stremousov said in a video published on Telegram, acknowledging that news from the Kharkiv region had worried some pro-Russian locals.
The US-based Institute for the Study of War reported on Monday increased Ukrainian advances in the Kherson region, with Kiev’s forces closing in on the city of Kherson after weeks of artillery bombardment strained Russia’s supply lines across the Dnipro River.
“It’s calm. Maybe it’s the calm before the storm, but we are ready to stand to the end and we won’t leave our Russian city of Kherson to anyone,” Stremousov said.
Register
Portal reporting; Editing by Guy Faulconbridge
Our standards: The Thomson Portal Trust Principles.