As blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flags flapped over newly conquered villages, it was rumored that Ukraine has captured so many Russians that it is running out of room to house them.
It has been reported that Ukrainian soldiers had recaptured 6,000 square kilometers of their homeland, including 3,000 square kilometers in the past six days alone.
In his nighttime speech to the country, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy reported that the “progress of our forces” continued.
His claims appear to be confirmed by the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a prominent US think tank that conducts research and analysis on defense and international issues.
According to the report, the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region was “displacing Russian forces and bringing down Russia’s northern Donbas axis.”
The report said, “Russian forces are not performing a controlled withdrawal and are hastily evacuating southeastern Kharkiv Oblast (a Ukrainian administrative district) to avoid being encircled around Izyum.”
A spokesman for Ukrainian military intelligence stated that Russian forces were surrendering en masse because “they recognize the hopelessness of their situation,” while an adviser to President Zelenskyy stated that the country was running out of space to house the war captives.
In twenty-four hours, the Ukrainian military reportedly liberated more than twenty villages.
According to the British Ministry of Defence, Kiev’s forces have conquered land at least twice the size of Greater London in recent days.
“Since the beginning of September and as of the present, our fighters have liberated about 6,000 square kilometers of territory.”
Ukraine’s territories in the south and east, Zelenskyy stated in his nightly video.
He expressed gratitude for the soldiers who were “advancing very courageously and very boldly” and who was “steadily marching forward despite everything – despite the peculiarities of the open terrain and the occupiers’ weaponry.
“Guys, you are great heroes!
” he added.
After months of little observable advance on the battlefield, the momentum has boosted Ukrainian morale and prompted rare public criticism of Vladimir Putin’s war.
The Kremlin was criticized by Russian military bloggers and patriotic commentators for failing to mobilize more forces and take harsher action.
Russia has never referred to its invasion as a war, instead referring to it as a “special military operation.”
Authorities in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city and the capital of the region where gains have been made, reported that power and water had been restored to approximately 80% of the region’s population following overnight Russian attacks on infrastructure that knocked out electricity in many places.
In other locations, Ukrainian forces are believed to have pushed back to the northeastern border, forcing the Russians into a quick retreat.
According to sources, mayhem ensued as Russian troops withdrew.
“Russians were present here in the morning. Dmytro Hrushchenko, a resident of recently-liberated Zaliznychne, a tiny village on the eastern battle line, told: “At midday, they suddenly began shouting frantically and running away, rushing out in tanks and armored vehicles.”
The Ukrainian military captured footage of soldiers hoisting the Ukrainian flag above battle-damaged structures.
In one picture, a combatant rubbed his feet on a Russian flag, and in others, Ukrainians inspected the ruins of tanks and other Russian military vehicles.
Officials reported that Ukrainian crews were disarming land mines and other unexploded weaponry in the retaken territories and seeking any remaining Russian troops.
However, defense analysts have noted that the conflict in Ukraine has fluctuated in recent months.
