Ukraine Pushes Russian Forces Out Of Key Cities; Putin Slammed By Own Allies

Ukrainian troops reclaimed more territory from Russia this week, pushing all the way back to the northeastern border in some places as part of a lightning advance that forced Moscow to make a hasty retreat from occupied land, with more than half of their forces leaving their weapons behind.

Photo Insert: "The city of Izyum in Kharkiv region has been liberated! The Ukrainian flag flies over the city again. The engines of tanks Russians left behind are still warm, but President @ZelenskyyUa is already there to show his support for the troops," tweeted Ukraine's Ministry of Defense.

The Ukrainian military said its troops had freed more than 20 settlements in 24 hours. In recent days, Kyiv’s forces have captured territory at least the size of greater London, according to the British Defense Ministry, Elena Becatoros and Hannah Arhirova reported for the Associated Press (AP).

After months of little discernible movement on the battlefield, the momentum has lifted Ukrainian morale and provoked rare public criticism of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s war.

While Ukrainian cities began emerging from Russian occupation, a local leader alleged that 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, 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 abruptly pulled out.

Meanwhile, in Russia, there were some signs of disarray as Russian military bloggers and patriotic commentators chastised the Kremlin for failing to mobilize more forces and take stronger action against Ukraine.

Russia has continuously stopped short of calling its invasion a war, instead describing it as a “special military operation” and relying on a limited contingent of volunteers instead of a mass mobilization that could spur civil discontent and protest.

Ramzan Kadyrov, the Moscow-backed leader of the Russian region of Chechnya, publicly criticized the Russian Defense Ministry for what he called “mistakes” that made the Ukrainian blitz possible. Even more notable, such criticism seeped onto state-controlled Russian TV.

“People who convinced President Putin that the operation will be fast and effective ... these people really set up all of us,” Boris Nadezhdin, a former parliament member, said on a talk show on NTV television.

“We’re now at the point where we have to understand that it’s absolutely impossible to defeat Ukraine using these resources and colonial war methods.”

Yet even amid Ukraine’s ebullience, the casualties kept mounting. Ukraine’s presidential office said Monday that at least four civilians were killed and 11 others wounded in a series of Russian attacks in nine regions of the country.

The UN Human Rights Office said last week that 5,767 civilians have been killed so far. Strikes in Kharkiv continued during daylight Monday when an administrative facility in the center of the city was hit by a missile, setting part of it on fire and killing one person, regional Police Chief Volodymyr Tymoahko said.

Teams of firefighters battled flames licking the roof from the top floor as smoke billowed above the area. In a reminder of the war’s toll, a council member in Izium — one of the areas where Russia said it has withdrawn troops — accused those forces of killing civilians and others committing atrocities.

“Russian troops committed crimes and tried to hide them,” Maksym Strelnikov said. His claims could not immediately be verified. Izium was a major base for Russian forces in the Kharkiv region.

The first Ukrainian flag was raised over the city on Sept. 10, according to Strelnikov, and more have popped up across the whole city. Residents, some wrapped in the country’s flag, happily greeted Ukrainian forces, offering them food.

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