Russia’s Retreat Prompts Ukraine To Want More Western Weapons

Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, is urging the West to expedite the delivery of weaponry as Ukrainian forces work to regain control of a sizable portion of Russia’s former territory in the country’s northeast.

Ukrainian military have regained dozens of towns since Moscow abandoned its main stronghold in northeastern Ukraine on Saturday, marking its greatest defeat since the beginning of the war. This is a startling change in the momentum of the battlefield.

Russian troops have reportedly retreated back over the border and mostly ceded land near Kharkiv in the northeast, senior U.S. military officer.

Ukraine claims that billions of dollars’ worth of weapons supplied by Washington and its allies have helped to contain Russian gains. Zelenskiy said Ukraine and the West must “strengthen cooperation to confront Russian terror” in a video speech late on Monday.

With assistance from the West, Ukrainian soldiers,  U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, have achieved “substantial progress.”

“What they have done is very methodically planned out, and of course it has benefited from significant support from the United States and many other countries,” Blinken said during a news conference in Mexico City. “They have made sure that Ukraine has in its hands the equipment it needs to prosecute this counteroffensive.”

Last Monday, Washington revealed its most recent weapons plan for Ukraine, which includes ammunition for HIMARS anti-rocket systems. Ukraine has also received NASAMS surface-to-air missile systems from Washington in the past, which can bring down aeroplanes.

Approximately 6,000 square kilometres (2,400 square miles), or about 1% of Ukraine’s total geographical area of about 600,000 square kilometres, Zelenskiy, have been reclaimed by the country. The area of the regained land is comparable to the combined areas of Gaza and the West Bank.

Since sending troops into Ukraine on February 24, Russia has seized control of almost a fifth of the country.

PULLBACK IN RUSSIA

Russian forces have suffered their greatest loss since April, when they were driven back from the outskirts of Kyiv, but President Vladimir Putin and his senior officials have mainly remained mute.

The topic of whether Putin still had faith in the military leadership was dodged by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov on Monday.

The secret military operation is still in progress. And it will continue up until the initial objectives are fulfilled,  Peskov.

Russia is doing well despite Western sanctions, Putin, who was seen on state television on Monday presiding over a meeting on the economy.

He claimed that the economic “blitzkrieg tactics,” or attack, they were relying on, failed.

Russian missiles launched at power plants caused outages in the Kharkiv region as well as the nearby Poltava and Sumy regions as hundreds of Russian forces withdrew, leaving behind munitions and equipment.

The southern command of Ukraine reported that its forces had retaken 500 square kilometres of ground, killing 59 Russian soldiers during the course of the previous day and destroying 20 pieces of equipment.

There was no way to independently verify the scenario.

Russian forces may soon be in a position to strike land that it and its local allies have controlled since 2014 if they continue their retreats.

Ukrainian troops are continuing their attempts to advance on the frontline city of Lyman, east of Izium, Denis Pushilin, the head of the pro-Russian separatist administration in the Donetsk province.

“(Our) units are stopping that and repelling them with good success. I think things will get better,” Pushilin stated in a Telegram video.

In the village of Sviatohirsk, southeast of Izium, he claimed that things were “more tough,” but that neither side was in charge. Reuters was unable to verify this.

Oleksiy Aretovych, the adviser to the Ukrainian president, claimed that Ukrainian forces were making headway in Donetsk and had crossed the Siverskyi Donets River, posing a danger to recapture important towns lost to Russian forces during weeks of intense warfare in June and July.

Happy villagers made their first appearance in frontline villages in months as Ukrainian forces advanced into territory taken from Russian troops in the north.