Workers clean debris of an office building destroyed by a strike in Mykolaiv, Ukraine, on Sept. 14.UMIT BEKTAS/Reuters
President Volodymyr Zelensky promised he would lead Ukraine to victory in its war against Russia as he visited shrapnel-blasted, recently recaptured towns on Wednesday, while pro-Russian officials claimed to have halted Kyiv’s forces for now.
Russian forces suffered a stunning reversal this month after Ukrainian troops made a rapid armoured thrust in the northeastern region of Kharkiv, forcing a rushed and chaotic Russian withdrawal.
Zelensky on Wednesday made a surprise visit to Izium – until four days ago Russia’s main bastion and logistics hub in the region – where he watched as the Ukrainian flag was raised in front of the charred city council building.
In a social media post, Zelensky said: “Our blue-yellow flag is already flying in de-occupied Izium. And it will be so in every Ukrainian city and village.”
On the main thoroughfare, no buildings were left unscathed: a derelict bath house had a hole blasted in its side; meat shops, pharmacies, a shoe shop and a beauty salon were sprayed with shrapnel.
“The view is shocking, but it is not shocking for me,” Zelensky told reporters, comparing the scenes of devastation to those in cities near Kyiv recaptured from Russian forces early in the war: “The same destroyed buildings, killed people.”
Earlier on Wednesday, an emotional-looking Zelensky handed out medals to soldiers who had taken part in the operation to free the area in Balakliia, another town retaken in recent days, where citizens and local police told reporters civilians were killed during months of Russian occupation.
Reuters could not independently verify the claims. Russia denies deliberately targeting civilians.
The president says his army had liberated around 8,000 square km (3,100 square miles) of territory so far this month, a swath of land nearly equivalent to the island of Cyprus.
Reuters was not able to immediately verify the full scope of Ukraine’s battlefield successes.
Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to Zelensky, said Ukrainian troops were now trying to retake the Russian-held town of Lyman in Ukraine’s Donetsk region and eyeing territorial gains in the neighbouring Luhansk region which is under Russian control.
“There is now an assault on Lyman,” Arestovych said in a video posted on YouTube.
“And that is what they fear most – that we take Lyman and then advance on Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk,” he said, referring to twin cities in Luhansk taken by Russia in June and July after some of the bloodiest battles of the war.
Denis Pushilin, head of the Russia-backed self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, said troops loyal to Moscow had successfully pushed back Ukrainian forces trying to make inroads into Lyman, and to the north and south of the town.
“Nothing worked out for the enemy,” said Pushilin.
In newly liberated Balakliya, grim evidence of Russia’s violent occupation remains
Western countries still cautious
Ukraine’s sudden advances over the past week have cheered its supporters in the West, although leaders say it is too soon to know whether Kyiv can keep up the pace.
“It’s clear the Ukrainians have made significant progress. But I think it’s going to be a long haul,” U.S. President Joe Biden said.
A day after speaking by phone for 90 minutes to Vladimir Putin, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said the Russian president “unfortunately” still did not think his invasion was a mistake.
German Defence Minister Christine Lambrecht told Reuters it was too early to tell whether Ukraine’s advances mark a turning point because it remains to be seen what Moscow will do next.
“But it is definitely a remarkable success that will contribute to Russia’s destabilization,” she added, speaking of a weakening of the Russian military.
Russian forces still control about a fifth of Ukraine in the south and east, but Kyiv is now on the offensive in both areas.
The White House, which has provided billions of dollars of weapons and support to Ukraine, has said the United States is likely to announce a new military aid package in the “coming days”.
Devastation
On the road into Izium, bus stops were daubed with “Z” markings, the symbol Russian forces use to identify themselves, and the charred remains of tanks and armoured personnel carriers lay by the roadside.
With a pink hood wrapped around her face for warmth, Liubov Sinna, 74, said residents were still fearful.
“We waited a long time for our guys. Of course we feel positive. Joy. But there is also fear – fear that the Russians could return here,” she said.
“Because we lived through this whole six months. We sat it out in cellars. We went through everything it is possible to go through. We absolutely cannot say that we feel safe.”
There was no gas, electricity, or water supply in the town, she added, saying she was unsure how people would get through winter.
Ukraine has accused Russia of attacking civil infrastructure in recent days to knock out electricity, water and heat in retaliation for its battlefield losses. Kirill Timoshenko, deputy head of the president’s office, said Russia had fired eight cruise missiles on Wednesday at the southern city of Kryvyi Rih aiming to knock out water supplies.
In a move that suggests Putin had wider war aims when he ordered troops into Ukraine on Feb. 24, three people close to the Russian leadership told Reuters that Putin had rejected a provisional deal with Kyiv around the time the war began.
They said the deal would have satisfied Russia’s demand that Ukraine stay out of NATO. The Kremlin said the Reuters report had “absolutely no relation to reality”. It also said Ukraine’s ambitions to join the Western NATO military alliance still presented a threat to Russia.
On top of its reversals in Ukraine, Russian authorities are also facing challenges in other former Soviet republics with deadly fighting between Azerbaijan and Armenia and border guard clashes between Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan.
The situation in the former Soviet states will be the backdrop at a summit in Uzbekistan this week where Putin will meet Chinese leader Xi Jinping and discuss the war in Ukraine.