Ukrainians Driving Russian Troops Out Of Kyiv Suburbs

Ukrainian troops are recapturing towns east of Kyiv and Russian forces who had been trying to seize the capital are falling back on overextended supply lines, Britain said, one of the strongest indications yet of a shift in momentum in the war, Linda Noakes reported for Reuters.

Photo Insert: A statue in Ukraine fortified with sandbags

The mayor of a suburb east of Kyiv said Ukrainian troops had recaptured a nearby village and thousands of civilians were now leaving the area, answering a call from the authorities to get out of the way of the counter-attack.

Russian precision-guided missiles are failing up to 60% of the time in Ukraine, three US officials with knowledge of intelligence on the issue told Reuters, a possible explanation for the poor progress of Russia's invasion.

In a related development, an estimated 300 people perished in the Russian missile attack on a Mariupol theatre, which hosted 1,000 people in its basement, many of them children, BBC News and the Associated Press (AP) reported.

In another sign of trouble, Russians have rushed to stock up on anti-depressants, sleeping pills, and contraceptives, among other products, since the conflict in Ukraine began, with people buying a month's worth of medicine in just two weeks.

Purchases of more anti-depressants are expected as Russian President Vladimir Putin had been sending thousands of Ukrainians to Russia against their will, the Mirror and Daily Express of the UK also reported.

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