War in Ukraine: kyiv multiplies victories, Moscow speaks of a calculated withdrawal

Armored vehicles destroyed on a road in Balakliya, in the Kharkiv region, on September 10, 2022. AFP - JUAN BARRETO

Text by: RFI Follow

3 mins

In recent hours, the kyiv army has continued a massive counter-offensive in the Kharkiv region, which is even expanding into the Donbass territories.

On Saturday, Ukrainian soldiers regained control of the strategic towns of Kupiansk and Izium, and their advance even seems to be continuing further east, to the point that the Kremlin has admitted having to make a strategic withdrawal to Donetsk.

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On Saturday evening, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was delighted that " 

" had been "

 " - without specifying whether it was km2 -, in particular the localities of Vassylenkovo ​​and 'Artemivka, not far from Kharkiv, in the northeast.

" 

", this is the tweet sent by the mobile operator Kyivstar on Saturday evening to the attention of the country's military, reports our correspondent in Kiev,

.

All day, the Ukrainians had their eyes riveted on the screens, trying to follow the progress from town to town of their armed forces, while the announcements multiplied: Kupyansk has fallen, but very quickly, it is Izium, the crossroads between Kharkiv and the Donbass, which has been liberated, only here, the Ukrainian forces continued the efforts beyond the revered Oskil, in the direction of the Donbass…

The fighting was engaged in Lyman, in the Donetsk region.

And then at the end of the day, Andriy Yermak, the head of the presidential administration in kyiv tweeted the simple image of a fox: the fox is the symbol of Lyssytchansk, this industrial city of Donbass taken by the Russians in early summer, and near which fighting broke out... 

In the evening, the Ukrainian military Telegram channels announce that the kyiv offensive has now reached Volchansk, on the Russian border, as well as the north of the Donetsk region.

In any case, the Russian army has already formalized its departure from Izium.

It is Moscow's biggest defeat in Ukraine since the Battle of kyiv in April. 

Russian withdrawal

In Russia precisely, the partisans of a hard line in Ukraine are, this weekend, particularly feverish.

Everywhere, on the channels of the social network Telegram, there are panicked statements from propagandists present on the ground.

Some admit a serious setback for the Russian army, others stick to the official statements of the authorities.

The Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday evening that it had taken the decision to gather its men in the Donetsk region to respond to attacks from Ukraine.

In short, Russia would have us believe in a controlled retreat.

This contrasts with the many images of vehicles and ammunition abandoned in Ukraine during this retreat.

Margarita Simonian, the war-mongering editor-in-chief of the Russian media

, who has been calling for the total destruction of Ukraine for several months, called on Saturday evening for a friendship between the two countries, reports our correspondent in Moscow,

.

The president of the separatist republic of Donetsk, Denis Pushilin published a short video filmed from a car, in which he admitted to a difficult situation.

As for Vladimir Putin, he spent the day in Moscow on Saturday, the capital celebrated its 875th birthday.

Far from war.

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