Volodymyr Zelensky has helped
raised the Ukrainian flag over the newly-recaptured Russian stronghold of Izyum
as he celebrates a stunning counter-attack that routed Putin’s forces in the
north of the country.
The Ukrainian president took
part in a minute of silence for fallen soldiers before congratulating those
still fighting on their victory. He then raised the flag in triumph over the
city – which previously served as the launchpad for Putin’s mission to
seize the entire Donbas region.
‘Ukraine is taking back its
own,’ a military spokesman said, as a growing hope of overall victory against
Putin’s forces begins to spread across the country in the wake of Russia’s
most-recent battlefield humiliation.
The scale of the unfolding
military disaster is so great that not even the Kremlin’s sock-puppet propagandists
are trying to disguise it, instead telling viewers on Monday night of a
‘serious defeat’ while considering – for the first time – the prospect of total
defeat in Ukraine.
Karen Shakhnazarov, a
film-maker and Kremlin loyalist, told viewers of Vladimir Solovyov’s
nightly show that Russia is now in a ‘very difficult situation’ against a
‘strong adversary’ – adding that Moscow’s armed forces ‘were not ready’ for
what he finally admitted is a ‘war’ and not a ‘special military operation’.
‘This war can only end with
the defeat of one of the sides,’ he said. ‘For us, this defeat may prove
fatal… it may lead to the disintegration of the country.’
President Zelensky (centre)
poses with Ukrainian soldiers in the newly-liberated city of Izyum, which until
last week had served as Russia’s launching pad for the invasion of Donbas
Zelensky took part in a minute
of silence for fallen soldiers (left) before watching as the Ukrainian flag was
raised over the city, amid a growing hope that overall victory against Putin’s
forces is possible
One of Ukraine’s commanders
shakes Zelensky’s hand in the recaptured city of Izyum, which was liberated
from Russian control in a rapid counter-attack by Kyiv’s forces last week.
Karen Shakhnazarov, a regular
talking-head on Russian state TV, told viewers of a ‘serious defeat’ for the
Russian military in Kharkiv that could prove ‘fatal’ to the whole country
Russia’s typically-loyal Putin
propagandists were highly critical of the war effort on state TV on Monday
night as they contemplated the possibility of total defeat in Ukraine
Underlining that sense of
impending victory, the Ukrainian mayor of the occupied city of Melitopol said
overnight that Russian troops are starting to withdraw – having held that
territory since the early days of the war.
Ivan Fedorov wrote on Telegram
that columns of military equipment were reported at a checkpoint in Chonhar, as
Russian troops apparently beat a retreat to occupied Crimea.
If Ukraine has forces capable
of re-taking the city, then it would break the so-called ‘land bridge’ that
Russia spent months establishing between the occupied areas of Donbas and Crimea.
That would mean Russian forces
currently fighting tooth-and-nail for the city of Kherson would be all but cut
off from resupply from the mainland, except for the vulnerable bridge crossing
the Kerch Strait.
