Ukrainian military vehicles travel on a main road in Kharkiv Oblast on September 11. A swift Ukrainian counterattack prompted Russian forces into a stunning retreat from key strategic areas in the northeastern Kharkiv region. (Heidi Levine) ZALIZNYCHNE, Ukraine — In the end, the Russians fled any way they could on Friday, on stolen bicycles, disguised as locals, deserted by their units. Hours after Ukrainian soldiers poured into the area, hundreds of Russian soldiers camped in this village left, leaving stunned residents to deal with the ruins of 28 weeks of occupation. “They just threw rifles on the ground,” Olena Matvienko said Sunday as she stood, still disoriented, in a village littered with ammunition and burned vehicles, including a Russian tank loaded onto a flatbed. The first searchers from Kharkiv had just entered to collect the bodies of civilians shot by the Russians, some of whom had been lying exposed for months. “I can’t believe we went through something like this in the 21st century,” Matvienko said through tears. The Russians’ hasty flight from the village was part of a startling new reality that stunned the world over the weekend: The February invaders are on the run in some areas of Ukraine they seized early in the conflict. On Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that Russian forces had withdrawn from the Balakliya and Izyum region in the Kharkiv region, saying a decision had been made to “regroup”. On Sunday, Ukrainian commander-in-chief Valery Zaluzhny said Ukrainian forces had recaptured more than 3,000 square kilometers (1,864 miles) of territory, a claim that could not be independently verified, adding that they were advancing east, south and north. “Ukrainian forces have penetrated Russian lines as deep as 70 kilometers in some places,” said the Institute for the Study of War, which closely monitors the conflict. They have captured more territory in the past five days “than Russian forces have captured in all their operations since April,” the campaign assessment published on Sunday said. The apparent collapse of Russian forces has sent shockwaves through Moscow. The leader of the Chechen Republic, Ramzan Kadyrov, who has sent his own fighters into Ukraine, said that if there were no immediate changes in Russia’s behavior in the invasion, “he would have to contact the country’s leadership to explain to them the real condition. on the ground.” The Russian Defense Ministry’s daily briefing on Sunday presented a map showing Russians retreating behind the Oskil River on the outskirts of the Kherson region. Evidence of Ukrainian gains continued to emerge on Sunday, with images of Ukrainian soldiers raising a flag in the center of Izyum, after it was abandoned by Russian forces, and similar images from other towns and villages such as Kindrashivka, Chkalovske and Velyki Komyshuvakha. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declined to elaborate on his military’s next moves, other than to say in an interview with CNN: “We will not stand still. We will proceed slowly, gradually.” Ukrainians emerged in the row of newly liberated villages southeast of Kharkiv, hailing the end of their ordeal and wondering if it is really over. “Only God knows if they will come back,” said Tamara Kozinska, 75, whose husband was killed by a mortar blast soon after the Russians arrived. It is by no means over, military experts warned. Russia still holds about a fifth of Ukraine and continued heavy shelling over the weekend in several areas. And there is no guarantee that Ukraine can keep the retaken areas safe. “A counterattack liberates ground, and then you have to control it and be ready to defend it,” Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov warned in an interview with the Financial Times. But as Ukrainian troops continued on Sunday to sweep deeper into Russian-held territory, more of them were eager to see the campaign as a potential turning point. Russian troops in deep retreat as Ukraine offensive advances on Kharkiv In Zaliznychne, a tiny rural village 37 miles east of Kharkiv, residents felt a return to normalcy on Sunday, sleeping in bedrooms rather than underground for the first time in months and trying to get in touch with family abroad. Kozinska hasn’t seen her daughter since February – even though she lives 12 miles away – but had just received word that she would come to pick her up once officials opened access to the village as the weather is cold. “I was so scared for the winter,” said the woman with lung problems, holding up a piece of paper she had just handed out, giving her a number to call if she found a landmine. “We have no power and it is difficult for me to gather firewood.” The first Russian soldiers to settle in the village, turning the sawmill into their base and launching rocket attacks on Ukrainian troops in the next town, hadn’t bothered the residents at first, he said. When they shot pigs on an abandoned farm, they sometimes let the residents butcher some of the meat. The death of a young Ukrainian soldier was felt by family, friends and country But as the occupation began, with the Russians rotating out every month, the troops became more aggressive. One of them asked to borrow Kozinska’s phone. “I gave it to him to call his mother, but he took my SIM card,” she said. One of the medics treated Halyna Noskova’s back after she was hit by shrapnel in her front yard in June. Her 87-year-old mother removed the metal fragment. “It was still warm,” he said. The Russian tied her up. “They helped me, but I’m glad we were freed,” said Noskova, 66. Residents, all of whom are Russian-speaking in this area next to the Russian border, described treatment as generally more humane than that experienced by occupied communities further west. The discovery of more than 450 bodies in Bukha, near Kyiv — many showing signs of torture — sparked international outrage over the atrocities. “They weren’t monsters, they were children,” said Matvienko, who once asked Russian troops to move the tank parked in front of her home. “I asked what they wanted from us and they said, ‘We can either be here or we can be in jail.’ “ Others told the villagers they were not there to fight Ukraine, but “to protect us from America.” The Russians’ biggest rule for residents was to get inside by 6pm and stay there, quiet and in the dark, several said. Disobeying this order could be fatal, as two men on the street learned early on. The friends were drinking and had a light on, said Maria Grigorova, who lives next door. The next morning he found them on the floor. “Konstiantyn had two bullet holes in his head,” he said. She and two friends buried them in the side yard. The same two friends dug them up on Sunday, with Ukrainian war crimes investigators looking for them. The team from Kharkiv picked up two other bodies during their visit, including a security guard whose remains have been rotting on the floor of a gravel elevator in an asphalt factory for months, even as the Russians used it as a sniper tower. A searcher repeatedly vomited over a guardrail as officers collected the remains. “We are here to investigate war crimes,” said Serhii Bolvinov, chief investigator of the Kharkiv Regional Police, as his crew waited for demining technicians to clear an area of explosives before they could recover some of the bodies. Battle for Kyiv: Ukrainian bravery, Russian blunders combine to save capital Residents feared the Russians, several villagers said. But they were almost pitied in their struggle to escape the recent Ukrainian onslaught. Half the soldiers fled in their vehicles in the first hours of the attack, they said. Those trapped became desperate. Some residents heard their pleas over the radio to unit commanders for someone to come get them. “They said, ‘You’re on your own,’” Matvienko said. “They entered our homes to get clothes so they wouldn’t be seen by the uniformed drones. They took our bikes. “Two of them pointed guns at my ex-husband until he gave them his car keys.” Ukrainian officials said they would no longer negotiate a peace deal that would allow Russia to maintain an occupying presence in any territory, including Crimea and parts of eastern Donetsk and Luhansk regions controlled by Russia or Russian-backed separatists. for years. “The point of no return has passed,” Reznikov, the defense minister, said at the Yalta European Strategy summit in Kyiv on Saturday. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Sunday appeared to backtrack on his earlier claim that now was not the time for peace talks, as Russia prepared to hold a round of mock referendums to annex occupied territories. “We are not against talks. we are not refusing talks,” Lavrov said on state television’s program, “Moscow. Kremlin. Putin”. Rather, “The naysayers should understand that the longer they delay this process, the more difficult the negotiation will be.” Robyn Dixon reported from Riga, Latvia. Mary Ilyushina in Riga and Isabelle Khurshudyan in Kyiv contributed to this report.
War in Ukraine: What you need to know
The last: Grain shipments from Ukraine are being accelerated under the agreement reached by Ukraine, Russia, Turkey and the United Nations in July. Russia’s blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports had sent food prices skyrocketing and raised fears of more famine in the Middle East and Africa. At least 18 ships, including cargoes of wheat, corn and sunflower oil, have departed. The battle: The conflict on the ground continues as Russia uses its heavy artillery advantage to pound Ukrainian forces, which have at times managed to put up stiff resistance. In the south,…
