Boxes of ammunition were scattered along with rubbish at positions the Russians had abandoned in evident haste. In Hrakove, one of dozens of villages recaptured in the Ukrainian advance, Reuters saw burnt-out vehicles bearing the 'Z' symbol of Russia's invasion. Troops entered Balakliia a few days ago, she said, but it was only on Saturday that Ukraine established control in the city. Ukraine's deputy defence minister, Hanna Malyar, sounded a cautionary note, urging people not to report prematurely that towns have been 'taken' just because Ukrainian troops were sighted. Russia still occupies extensive territory in the Donbas and in the south near the Crimean Peninsula it seized in 2014.ĭays ago, Kyiv's forces burst through the front line in the northeast and have since recaptured dozens of towns and villages in a swift mechanised assault, surging forward dozens of kilometres (miles) a day. Ukraine has for weeks been talking up a big counteroffensive in the south, which also is under way though details are sparse.

Igor Girkin, a former commander of pro-Russian forces in eastern Ukraine, called the Russian pullback 'a major defeat' in remarks on Telegram. That left thousands of Russian troops abruptly cut off from supplies along a front that has seen some of the most intense battles of the war. Ukrainian officials posted photos early on Saturday of their troops raising the country's blue-and-yellow flag in front of Kupiansk's city hall. The Russian withdrawal announcement came hours after Ukrainian troops captured the city of Kupiansk farther north, the sole railway hub supplying Russia's entire front line across northeastern Ukraine. Ukrainian officials stopped short of confirming they had recaptured Izium, but Yermak earlier posted a photo of troops on its outskirts and tweeted an emoji of grapes. keep running!' Andriy Yermak, Zelenskiy's chief of staff, wrote on Twitter. 'The Russian army is claiming the title of fastest army in the world. In his nightly video address on Saturday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said Ukraine's armed forces had recovered around 2,000 square kilometres (770 square miles) of territory since its counter-offensive was launched earlier this month. 'And so I reiterate: the more weapons we receive, the faster we will win, and the faster this war will end,' he said. Ukraine's Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in Kyiv that Ukrainian forces had demonstrated they were capable of defeating the Russian army with the weapons given to them. There is pressure on Kyiv to demonstrate progress before winter sets in, amid threats by Russian President Vladimir Putin to halt all energy shipments to Europe if Brussels goes ahead with a proposal to cap the price of Russian oil exports. It would also be a big boost for Ukraine, which is keen to show Western nations supplying it with weapons it deserves their continued support. If the reported gains are held, it would be a serious blow for Russia, which Western intelligence services say has suffered huge casualties.

Witnesses described traffic jams of cars with people leaving Russian-held territory. The head of Russia's administration in Kharkiv told residents to evacuate the province and flee to Russia to 'save lives,' TASS reported. The state-run TASS news agency quoted Russia's defence ministry as saying it had ordered troops to leave the vicinity and reinforce operations elsewhere in Donetsk. Russian forces used Izium as the logistics base for one of their main campaigns - a months-long assault from the north on the adjacent Donbas region comprised of Donetsk and Luhansk. Ukraine hailed it as a turning point in the 6-month-old war, with thousands of Russian soldiers leaving behind ammunition stockpiles and equipment as they fled. The swift fall of Izium in Kharkiv province was Moscow's worst defeat since its troops were forced back from the capital Kyiv in March. KYIV/HRAKOVE, Ukraine, Sept 10 (Reuters) - Moscow abandoned its main bastion in northeastern Ukraine on Saturday, in a sudden collapse of one of the war's principal front lines after Ukrainian forces made a rapid advance.

Abandoned stockpile bastion