Kharkiv (Ukraine): Ukraine claimed Monday that it took several more villages, pushing Russian forces right back to the northeastern border, part of a lightning counteroffensive that forced Moscow to withdraw troops from some areas in recent days.
After months of little discernible movement on the battlefield, Kyiv's sudden momentum has lifted Ukrainian morale and provoked outrage in Russia and even some rare public criticism of President Vladimir
Putin's war.
As Ukrainian flags began to flutter over one city emerging from Russian occupation, a local leader alleged the Kremlin's troops had committed atrocities against civilians there similar to those in other places seized by Moscow.
In some areas of the front, our defenders reached the state border with the Russian Federation, said Oleh Syniehubov, the governor of the northeastern Kharkiv region.
Over the weekend, the Russian Defense Ministry said troops would be pulled from two areas in that region to regroup in the eastern region of Donetsk.
There were reports of chaos as Russian troops pulled out in haste.
The Russians were here in the morning. Then at noon, they suddenly started shouting wildly and began to run away, charging off in tanks and armored vehicles, Dmytro Hrushchenko, a resident of recently-liberated Zaliznychne, a small town near the eastern frontline, told Sky News of the quick withdrawal.
It was not yet clear if the Ukrainian blitz could signal a turning point in the war though some analysts suggested it might be while also cautioning there would likely be fighting for months more. Momentum has switched back and forth before.