Published: Less than 10 min ago
Ukrainian forces are said to have made significant progress in Kharkiv.
Zelenskyy believes that over 30 settlements in the region have been liberated.
Now Moscow is responding by sending military reinforcements to the war, Russian media write.
The fighting between Russia and Ukraine rages in the Kharkiv region.
This week, Ukrainian forces carried out the first major counterattack since last spring. President Zelenskyy says Ukraine has taken control of more than 30 settlements in the region, reports Guardian.
These are communities and villages that have been under Russian control since the first days of the invasion. Now Moscow chooses to send extensive military reinforcements to the region, according to Russian media.
Images published by Russian state media show Russian tanks and maintenance vehicles rolling forward in columns in forested areas, according to TT.
Attack on schools and homes
The Moscow-loyal official Vitaly Ganchev admits that the Russian troops have fallen behind.
On Russian state television, he describes Ukraine’s progress as “very sharp and fast”.
Ganchev says that Ukraine took back control of the city of Balaklija after “fierce fighting” during yesterday. The city is an important railway point in eastern Ukraine.
On Friday, Russia responded by firing rockets at the city center, according to local officials. At least ten people are said to have been injured, of which three victims are said to be children. The rockets are said to have hit a school and several homes, among other things.
Zelensky’s chief of staff condemns the attacks and believes that Russia wants “revenge” as a result of the Ukrainian successes.
“No frozen conflict”
Ukrainian President Zelenskyy states in his nightly speech that the Ukrainian military has recaptured more than a thousand square kilometers of land since the beginning of September.
Last Thursday, US Foreign Minister Antony Blinken was on an unannounced visit to Kyiv. He also confirms the successes and believes that Ukraine is making “real progress”. However, Putin claims that Russia has “lost nothing” during the six months of the war.
The Ukrainian president’s adviser Mykhailo Podolyak believes that “Ukraine has proven its ability to regain its regions”.
“This will not be a frozen conflict,” the adviser signs Twitter.
Wants to establish an authority for de-occupied areas
Iryna Vereshuck is the Ukrainian minister responsible for the country’s occupied territories. She states that Kyiv plans to establish a new authority that will be responsible for the recaptured areas of eastern Ukraine.
– The authority will make the “de-occupation” and reintegration as efficient and fast as possible, she says.
Vereshuck believes that more and more civilians want to leave the war-torn region. But Russia and Ukraine have not agreed to open humanitarian corridors.
Currently, there are only three passages along the war fronts. Millions of people live in the occupied territories. Those who try to escape are forced to wait in line for several days – surrounded by the intense fighting.