The lightning push by Ukrainian forces, in which they recaptured within days almost all of the Kharkiv region they had held since the first days of the war last winter, has left Moscow reeling. Despite the setback, the Kremlin and its proxies insisted the war would continue until President Vladimir Putin’s goals were met and blamed NATO and the United States for Ukraine’s refusal to surrender. The Ukrainian military said on Monday that in the previous 24 hours it had advanced into an additional 20 Russian-held towns and villages – claims that could not be independently verified. On Sunday, Ukraine’s top commander, General Valery Zaluzhny, said his forces had retaken more than 3,000 square kilometers, 1,100 square miles, in less than a week. U.S. defense officials have declined to say how far they think Ukrainian forces can push, citing operational security concerns. But it was likely only “a matter of time” before the collapse, given Russia’s long-standing struggles to organize, equip and sustain its forces on the battlefield and Ukraine’s build-up of Western-supplied high-powered weapons. said one of the officials. , speaking on the condition of anonymity under Pentagon ground rules. But U.S. officials said the war remains a tough fight for Ukrainians that could drag on for a long time. In their hasty retreat, billed by the Russian Defense Ministry as “regrouping,” the Russians abandoned tanks, armored vehicles and ammunition that Ukraine plans to refit and use on the battlefield. Posting a video of a fully intact Russian howitzer, a Ukrainian official joked on Twitter that the Ukrainian “army accepted its first supplies on loan from Russia” in the liberated city of Izyum. Russia still occupies large areas of eastern and southern Ukraine, including cities such as Mariupol and Kherson, Putin’s coveted “land bridge” to Crimea, which Russia illegally annexed in 2014, and most of its Luhansk and Donetsk, where Russia has recognized two self-proclaimed separatist “republics”. Military analysts, however, said the equipment losses could be a significant blow to Russia — and that Ukraine would use its recent success to push for even more security assistance. Amid Ukraine’s stunning gains, liberated villages describe Russian troops dropping rifles and fleeing In recent weeks, Ukrainian officials have worried about eroding support from Western partners ahead of US elections that could shift control to Republicans in Congress and a difficult and expensive winter in Europe due to rising energy prices linked to the war. However, some Western allies have asked to provide Ukraine with more powerful weapons. Lithuanian Foreign Minister Gabrielius Landsbergis wrote on Sunday that “all stocks of Western advanced weaponry,” including long-range missiles, fighter jets and tanks, “must be made available to Ukraine.” Western nations have so far distanced themselves from providing these. “Let me be honest,” Landsberg He wrote. “It is now beyond doubt that Ukraine could have expelled Russia months ago if it had been provided with the necessary equipment from day one.” Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said on Twitter that the EU’s top diplomat, Josep Borrell, had called him to “express his admiration and respect for the Ukrainian Defense Forces as they liberate more territory from Russian occupation.” “Explore further ways for the EU to help Ukraine and bring peace closer. I asked for weapons, sanctions and financial aid,” Kuleba said. Borrell recently warned that arms stockpiles in EU countries are being depleted — “depleted to a great extent,” he said — because of donations to Ukraine. In Moscow, the retreat exposed fissures among Kremlin loyalists. Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov said he might have to talk to Putin himself because he didn’t trust Putin to get the bad news from his advisers. Pro-Russian military bloggers have slammed the government for not mobilizing more troops for the fight – a move Putin has sought to avoid because conscription could turn public support against the war. On Monday, officials reiterated that the goals of the “special military operation” – the Kremlin’s term for the war – would be achieved regardless of the setbacks, although the exact objectives were never fully clear. At first, Putin intended to seize Kyiv and overthrow the government, but this failed. “The goals of the special military operation will be achieved,” Russian Security Council Secretary Nikolai Patrushev told a meeting in the Siberian Federal District on Monday in Kemerovo. “Events surrounding Ukraine show that the United States and its proxies are trying to prolong the conflict in Ukraine by increasing the supply of weapons and military equipment, which are later used against civilians.” Russia appeared to respond to Ukraine’s counterattack with retaliatory missile strikes on vital civilian infrastructure on Sunday night, plunging several areas, including Kharkiv, into darkness as power went out. Pentagon officials said there was a marked increase in missile attacks over the weekend. Kremlin propagandist Margarita Simonyan, the editor-in-chief of the government-funded RT TV channel, formerly Russia Today, cheered the attacks, adding on social media that “electricity is a privilege.” Russian troops in deep retreat as Ukraine offensive advances on Kharkiv But the mood around Ukraine remained upbeat and defiant on Monday. On social media, people reposted Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky’s statement addressing Russians directly, saying that “cold, hunger, darkness and thirst are not as scary and deadly for us as “friendship and brotherhood your”. “ The euphoria only appeared to harden Ukraine’s position that it will not cede an inch of ground to Russia and intends to retake land, including Crimea, seized since 2014. Zelensky reiterated on Sunday night that Ukraine was not ready to negotiate with Russia because it had not yet made acceptable offers. Volodymyr Fesenko, director of Penta, Center for Applied Political Studies in Kyiv, said the military successes were “a message precisely to those wavering Western politicians,” who fear that providing weapons could lead to a dangerous escalation of the conflict. The gains have also boosted the Ukrainian government’s own ambitions for eventual peace talks, he said. “I think that strengthening the military positions in Ukraine means strengthening the diplomatic positions of our country,” Fesenko said. US officials have said it is up to Ukrainian officials if and when they choose to broker an end to the war with Russia. But some of Ukraine’s Western partners worry that Russian failures, combined with Zelensky’s refusal to make concessions, could escalate the conflict and even prompt Putin to use a tactical nuclear weapon. “The West should be very clear now that crossing these lines could bring NATO much more aggressively into the conflict,” said Jim Stavridis, a retired US admiral and former top NATO allied commander. “While the chances of a complete expulsion of the Russians from all of Ukraine are high, the West’s job should be to give them what they need to be in the strongest possible position to negotiate – which seems months away,” said Stavridis. Keeping the newly reclaimed territory will now be the challenge for Ukraine. Kharkiv’s eastern region borders Russia, and the city of Kharkiv, which was Ukraine’s second largest before the war, remains within range of Russian multiple-launch missile systems even if they are launched from Russian territory. On Monday, after their recent dizzying string of victories, at least some Ukrainian soldiers took a few hours to rest, stock up on snacks and celebrate. In Chuhuiv, a town east of Kharkiv, pickup trucks, panel vans and SUVs – hastily painted in camo green and donated from across Europe – came and went from the small grocery store. The fighters came out with bread and candy and bottles of soda, many wearing big smiles and some exchanging chest hugs as they passed each other. “We feel fantastic,” said one, apologizing for not getting to talk as he hurried to jump into a friend’s car. “We have momentum.” Chuhuiv, a gateway to the section of liberated villages east of Kharkiv – Ukraine’s second-largest city – is on the edge of Ukraine’s intact mobile phone network, and many of the soldiers were taking advantage of an Internet opportunity. A bearded soldier leaned back on a bench talking on his phone, wearing a look of contented fatigue. Misha, a member of the 14th Brigade who said he could not give his last name, was scrolling on his phone outside a shop selling military clothing. Even the soldiers were surprised, he said, by the progress of the counterattack. The death of a young Ukrainian soldier was felt by family, friends and country “We’ve reached the Russian border, so it’s time to take a breather, wait for further orders,” Misha said. His unit helped liberate a village that had been occupied since the very first days of the invasion. The men are still based there, giving them a chance to see some residents return to homes for the first time in seven months, even though some areas are still littered with mines and unexploded ordnance.
