Ukrainian troops pressed on retreating Russian forces on Tuesday, pressing a counterattack that delivered significant gains and a stunning blow to Moscow’s military prestige. It was not yet clear whether the Ukrainian blitz in the northeast after months of little discrete movement could mark a turning point in the nearly seven-month war. But the country’s officials were alarmed, releasing videos showing their forces burning Russian flags and inspecting abandoned charred tanks. In one video, border guards tore down a poster that read: “We are one people with Russia.” Momentum has swung back and forth in the past, and U.S. allies in Ukraine, for example, have been careful not to declare early victory, as Russian President Vladimir Putin still has troops and resources to draw on. In the face of Russia’s biggest defeat since its failed bid to capture Kyiv early in the war, Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said troops were retaliating with “massive strikes” on all fronts. But there were no immediate reports of a sudden uptick in Russian attacks. 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. “The movement of our troops continues,” he said. Among the latest claims, Ukraine’s border guard services said the army had taken control of Vovchansk — a town just 3 kilometers (2 miles) from Russia that was seized on the first day of the war. Russia has acknowledged that it has withdrawn troops from areas in the northeastern region of Kharkiv in recent days. Reports of chaos are mounting as Russian troops withdraw — as well as claims of mass surrenders. The claims could not be immediately verified. Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister Hana Maliar said Kyiv was trying to persuade even more Russian soldiers to surrender by firing shells filled with flintlocks ahead of their advance. “The Russians are using you as cannon fodder. Your life means nothing to them. You don’t need this war. Surrender to the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the leaflets read. As dozens of towns and villages were liberated, authorities moved into many areas to investigate alleged atrocities against civilians by Russian troops. The Kharkiv regional prosecutor’s office said four bodies with signs of torture were found in the village of Zaliznychne. It’s not clear how many other places investigators have entered. In an indication of the blow to Moscow, British intelligence said a flagship force, the 1st Guards Tank Army, had been “severely degraded” during the invasion and that “Russia’s conventional force designed to dealing with NATO has been seriously weakened. it takes years for Russia to rebuild that capability.” However, the retreat did not stop Russia from pounding Ukrainian positions. Early on Tuesday, it shelled the city of Lozova in the Kharkiv region, killing three people and injuring nine, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said. And Ukrainian officials said Russia continued shelling around Europe’s largest nuclear facility, where fighting has raised fears of a nuclear meltdown. The region of Nikopol, which is across the Dnieper River from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, was shelled six times overnight, but no injuries were immediately reported, regional governor Valentyn Reznichenko said. The strikes also continued unabated in the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city and one that has been pounded by artillery for months. Zelensky specifically criticized Russia for targeting energy infrastructure in its attacks in recent days. “Hundreds and thousands of Ukrainians were left in the dark — without electricity. Homes, hospitals, schools, community infrastructure – places that have absolutely nothing to do with the infrastructure of our country’s armed forces.” He said he could only show one thing. “This is a sign of desperation of those who invented this war. This is how they react to the defeat of Russian forces in the Kharkiv region. They cannot do anything to our heroes on the battlefield.” The counterattack has sparked rare public criticism of Putin’s war. Meanwhile, some of its defenders in Russia played down the idea that success belonged to Ukraine, instead blaming Western weapons and fighters for the losses. “It is not Ukraine that attacked Izium, but NATO,” read a headline in the state-backed Komsomolskaya Pravda newspaper, referring to one of the areas where Russia said it had withdrawn its troops. Elsewhere, residents of a Russian village just across the border with Ukraine were evacuated after shelling by Ukrainian troops killed one person, according to Russia’s Tass news agency. The publication cited the head of the local administration in Logachefka as saying that Ukrainian troops opened fire at a border checkpoint. —— Arhirova reported from Kyiv.
