Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Sunday that his country's army had regained control of the strategic city of Izyum (east), while Russia responded by bombing Ukrainian infrastructure in conjunction with the withdrawal of its forces from the regions of southern and eastern Ukraine.

In a speech he addressed to the nation on the occasion of the 200th anniversary of the start of the Russian invasion, Zelensky thanked the Ukrainian forces that "liberated hundreds of our cities and towns... and more recently Balaklia, Izyum and Kobyansk," referring to 3 strategic regions recently recaptured by the Ukrainian army.

The commander of the Ukrainian army announced on Sunday morning that his soldiers had recaptured from the Russian forces areas with a total area of ​​more than 3,000 square kilometers this month, as part of a counter-offensive focused in the northeast of the country.

The 130th unit of the Ukrainian army said that it had reached the international border with Russia in the city of "Guptovka", on the northern border of the Kharkiv province, and broadcast pictures of its soldiers in front of the local council of the city, which is a border crossing with the Russian province of Belgorod.

The spokesman of the Ukrainian General Staff, Alexander Stubun, announced that the Ukrainian army repelled 10 attacks by the Russian forces in several regions, and that the latter was trying to regain the positions it lost there.

He also indicated that the Russian forces left their positions and fled towards Lugansk and the Russian territories, as a result of the Ukrainian attack on Kharkiv.


strategic cities

Earlier on Saturday, Al-Jazeera correspondent reported that the Ukrainian army had taken control of the city of Kobyansk after battles with Russian forces.

The Ukrainian army had also announced that its units raised the Ukrainian flag over the local administration building in the city of Plaklya, near Izyum.

Ammunition boxes and military equipment were seen scattered in areas left by Russian forces, according to photos published by the Ukrainian army.

And the Ukrainian army stated in a circular regarding the situation on the ground on Sunday - which coincides with the 200th day since the start of the war - that "the liberation of settlements is underway in the Kobyansk and Izyum regions of the Kharkiv region," as he put it.

The two sites are important logistical centers that Russia relies on to deliver supplies to its front sites in the east.


American support

In this context, the Ukrainian president stressed that his country would not have been able to recover several areas from the Russian forces without American support.

In an interview with CNN, Zelensky expressed his gratitude to US President Joe Biden, and for the support of the Democratic and Republican parties.

For its part, The New York Times revealed that senior Ukrainian officials intensified their intelligence sharing with their American counterparts, while Kyiv began planning to carry out its counterattack on Russian forces.

The newspaper reported that this is a shift that allowed the United States to provide better and relevant information about the attack.

The New York Times noted that throughout the war, Washington provided Ukraine with information about command posts, ammunition depots and other key points in the Russian military lines, which allowed them to be targeted, killing senior generals, and transporting ammunition supplies away from the Russian front lines.

For its part, the British Guardian newspaper said that the Russian forces miscalculated the attack of the Ukrainian army in the Kharkiv region, because they focused their preparations on repelling the attack in the south.

The newspaper quoted the Ukrainian special forces as saying that the attack in the south of the country, which received great media coverage, was a disinformation campaign to distract Russia from the real attack that was being prepared in the Kharkiv region.

For his part, the European Union foreign policy chief, Josep Borrell - in a tweet on his Twitter account - praised the progress made by the Ukrainian forces on several fronts.

Borrell said that the courage of the Ukrainian forces showed early results, stressing the continued support of the European Union to Ukraine in its defense against Russian aggression, as he put it.

Russian strikes

On the other hand, the Russian Defense Ministry announced air and artillery strikes for the Ukrainian support forces in the Kharkiv axis.

Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said that the Ukrainian army's losses in the past five days on the "Kharkiv and Mykolaiv" axes exceeded 4,000.

Konashenkov added that the Russian forces repositioned them from Izyum towards Donetsk, to reinforce their positions on that axis.

Meanwhile, Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov said that mistakes were made on the battlefield in Ukraine.

He added - in an audio recording - that if there are no changes in the strategy of the military operation, he will speak with the leadership of the Russian forces.

Kadyrov explained that their forces withdrew from many areas to save lives, noting that all cities will be restored and that his forces are already present and ready for that.


Infrastructure targeting

In parallel with the battles, the Ukrainian presidency accused the Russian forces of deliberately targeting the infrastructure in the city of Kharkiv with the aim of depriving citizens of electricity and heating, describing this as a cowardly response to the fleeing of its forces from the battlefield.

A statement issued by the Ukrainian presidency said that the Russian forces directly targeted the thermal power station in Kharkiv with two cruise missiles, while the Ukrainian administration in Donetsk confirmed the power outages in Kharkiv, Sumy, Poltava and Dnipro in full, and in part on Donetsk, due to the missile strikes.

In turn, Russian media reported that Russian forces launched missile attacks on the largest thermal power plants in eastern and central Ukraine.

According to a statement issued by the Ukrainian army, Russian forces have targeted more than 70 sites across the country of military and civilian infrastructure.


reduce my nations

Meanwhile, the Director-General of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Rafael Grossi, said that the situation in Zaporozhye remains dangerous despite the restoration of the station's backup power line.

Grossi added that he is deeply concerned about the situation at the station as long as the bombing continues in any way, stressing the need to establish a protection and safety zone at the station, explaining that consultations have already begun in this regard.

The International Atomic Energy Agency announced the restoration of a backup power line at the Zaporozhye nuclear plant, allowing the plant to supply the external electricity it needs to cool the reactor and other safety functions.

The operator of the Zaporozhye plant had announced the complete cessation of work at the plant.

The agency "Interfax" quoted the director of the Russian company operating the station that work stopped in the sixth reactor after midnight, which is the last reactor that was working at the station.

For its part, the Ukrainian Atomic Energy Agency, which operates the Zaporozhye plant, confirmed the disconnection of the last reactor from the power grid, and accused Russian forces of bombing the electrical interconnection lines and disconnecting the plant from the grid.

Meanwhile, the TASS news agency quoted the Kremlin as saying that Russian President Vladimir Putin discussed - in a telephone conversation with his French counterpart Emmanuel Macron - the situation in Ukraine.

The agency added that Putin and Macron agreed not to politicize the situation at the Zaporozhye nuclear plant.

And "TASS" indicated that Putin stressed - during his conversation with Macron - the need to pressure Kyiv to stop the bombing of the Zaporozhye plant.

As for the Elysee, he said that Macron stressed - during the call - the need to end the Russian military operation in Ukraine immediately.

The Elysee added - in a statement - that Macron told Putin that the main cause of danger at the Zaporozhye nuclear plant was the presence of Russian forces.


back to negotiations

Politically, the Ukrainian presidency said that any return to negotiations with Russia must include the complete liberation of Ukrainian lands, Russia's payment of compensation to the Ukrainian side, and the punishment of war criminals.

The Ukrainian presidency confirmed that all Kyiv's partners support this formula.

On the other hand, TASS news agency quoted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov as saying that Moscow does not refuse to hold negotiations with Ukraine, noting that delaying its contract complicates the process.

Lavrov said that the delay in negotiations between Russia and Ukraine makes it difficult to reach an agreement between the two countries, stressing that Moscow does not refuse to negotiate.

Lavrov added that the world is moving towards a just system, and it will be a multipolar system, noting that his country supports an equal dialogue and solves all problems on the principle of balancing the interests of all countries of the world, and said that everything the West does is based on its fear of competition.