President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has said Ukraine’s armed forces have retaken around 2,000 square kilometres (770 square miles) of territory from Russian forces since their surprise north-eastern counteroffensive was launched earlier this month.
In his Saturday night address, he said: “These days, the Russian army is showing its best – showing its back. And, in the end, it is a good choice for them to run away. There is and will be no place for the occupiers in Ukraine.”
Zelenskiy spoke after the Russian army was forced to pull back thousands of troops following a series of crucial battlefield defeats in the north-east, as the invasion ordered by Vladimir Putin entered its 200th day.
Ukrainian forces confirmed the liberation of the crucial rail hub of Kupiansk and shortly after seized Izium, the major base for Moscow’s forces in the Kharkiv region and perhaps Ukraine’s most significant success in pushing back the Russians since the beginning of the invasion.
Ukraine’s foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba said in Kyiv that Ukrainian forces had demonstrated they were capable of defeating the Russian army with the weapons given to them. “And so I reiterate: the more weapons we receive, the faster we will win, and the faster this war will end,” he said.
Ukrainian troops had also liberated the villages of Vasylenkovo and Artemivka in the Kharkiv region, Zelensky said.
Within hours of Izium’s fall, Russia’s defence ministry admitted that it was pulling back its forces from the region.
In developments unforeseeable just a few days ago, Russian officials said troops would be moved from the Balakliia and Izium areas to help its operation in Donbas, mirroring the justification the Kremlin gave for withdrawing its forces from the Kyiv region soon after the start of the seven-month war.
Vitaly Ganchev, the head of the Russia-backed administration in the Kharkiv region, said on state television that several villages had come under the control of Ukrainian forces and said his administration was trying to “evacuate” civilians from cities including Izium, where the British officials described Russian forces as “increasingly isolated”.
A resident of Izium, who preferred to remain anonymous, told the Guardian that the Ukrainian troops had entered the city. Before that, “Russian occupying forces were rapidly withdrawing, leaving ammunition and equipment behind”.
Ukrainian officials shared photos on Saturday showing troops raising the nation’s flag over Kupiansk, where rail lines linking Russia to eastern Ukraine converge and which, in the last months, has supplied Russian forces in north-eastern Ukraine.
“Kupiansk is Ukraine. Glory to the armed forces of Ukraine,” said Natalia Popova, adviser to the head of the Kharkiv regional council.
For weeks, Ukrainian officials had telegraphed plans for a planned counterattack in the southern Kherson region, but instead the main focus of this week’s counterattack has been Kharkiv in the north-east, taking everyone, including apparently the Russians, by surprise.
The much-publicised Ukrainian southern offensive was a disinformation campaign, Ukraine’s special forces have said.
Foreign ministry spokesperson Oleg Nikolenko spoke of the difference western weapons were making on the battlefield: “Ukrainian troops are advancing in eastern Ukraine, liberating more cities and villages. Their courage coupled with western military support brings astonishing results.
“It’s crucial to keep sending arms to Ukraine. Defeating Russia on the battlefield means winning peace in Ukraine.”
German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock arrived in the Ukrainian capital on Saturday for a surprise visit, and pledged to continue deliveries of weapons as well as humanitarian and financial support.
A Ukrainian official also said Kyiv’s troops were closing in on the eastern city of Lysychansk, captured by Russian troops after fierce artillery battles in July.
It comes as western intelligence suggests that Russian forces in Kherson are coming under sustained pressure from Ukrainian attacks. According to the Ukrainian military, Russia is sending 1,300 Chechen fighters to the southern Kherson region.
Russian news agencies reported six large explosions in Nova Kakhovka, a town held by Russian troops in the Kherson region.
