Russians Withdraw Around Kharkiv; Ukrainians Celebrate

Russian troops are withdrawing from around Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city after weeks of heavy bombardment, the Ukrainian military said Saturday, as Kyiv and Moscow’s forces engaged in a grinding battle for the country’s eastern industrial heartland, Oleksandr Stashevsky and David Keyton reported for the Associated Press (AP).

Photo Insert: Ukrainian forces prevented Russian troops from encircling, let alone seizing Kharkiv.

Ukraine’s general staff said the Russians were pulling back from Kharkiv and focusing on guarding supply routes while launching mortar, artillery, and airstrikes in the eastern Donetsk province in order to “deplete Ukrainian forces and destroy fortifications.” Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Ukraine was “entering a new - long-term - phase of the war.”

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Ukrainians were doing their “maximum” to drive out the invaders and that the outcome of the war would depend on support from Europe and other allies.

“No one today can predict how long this war will last,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address late Friday.

After Russian forces failed to capture Kyiv following the Feb. 24 invasion, President Vladimir Putin shifted his focus to the Donbas, an industrial region where Ukrainian troops have battled Moscow-backed separatists since 2014.

Russia’s offensive aims to encircle Ukraine’s most experienced and best-equipped troops, who are based in the country’s east, and to seize parts of the Donbas that remain in Ukraine’s control.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said Ukraine “appears to have won the Battle of Kharkiv.” It said, “Ukrainian forces prevented Russian troops from encircling, let alone seizing Kharkiv, and then expelled them from around the city.”

Regional governor Oleh Sinegubov said in a post on Telegram messaging that there had been no shelling attacks on Kharkiv in the past day. He said Ukraine had launched a counteroffensive near Izyum, a city 125 kilometers (78 miles) south of Kharkiv.

Ukraine’s airborne command released photos and video of what it said was a damaged Russian pontoon bridge over the Siversky Donets River and at least 73 destroyed or damaged Russian military vehicles nearby.

Britain’s Defense Ministry said Russia lost “significant armored maneuver elements” of at least one battalion tactical group in the attack. A Russian battalion tactical group consists of about 1,000 troops.

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