Vladimir Putin’s war in Ukraine has been happening for over six months now, with no end in sight. However, Ukrainian forces have made significant gains on Russian territory in the northwest region of Kharkiv. In the past two weeks, Ukrainian forces have launched a similar counter-offensive in the southern Kherson region. When Russian forces moved south to combat this, the northern offensive pushed even harder.
While much of the Russian army has retreated from the area, some fighting still lingers in areas around the cities of Kupiansk and Izyum. Ukraine’s government claims that this is a vital turning point in the conflict, seeing as many Russian soldiers abandoned their weapons and their stockpiles to retreat. Many western experts claim that this is the worst defeat since Russians were pushed out of the capital, Kyiv, in March.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the Ukrainian flag had “returned to Chkalovske, Kharkiv region.” “It will be like that everywhere. We will expel the occupiers from every Ukrainian town and village,” Zelenskyy added. The Russian Defense Ministry claims that they are reordering soldiers to focus their attack on the Donbas region, an industrial region that has been the main focus of Russian onslaught since the abandonment of Kyiv.
On Sunday, Ukraine’s army chief claimed that they had now recaptured over 3,000 square kilometers (about 1,860 square miles) of territory since the counter-offensive began, but these claims are unverified. Putin insists that the military operation will continue and claims that they are making gains, however, the results show otherwise.
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