Ukraine recaptures strategic territories in south and east as pressure mounts on Putin’s army
Ukrainian forces continued to make massive gains across the south and east this week, liberating a number of key villages and putting increasing pressure on President Putin’s army.
In his Tuesday evening address, Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said the villages of Lyubymivka, Khreshchenivka, Zolota Balka, Bilyaivka, Ukrainka, Velyka Oleksandrivka and Mala Oleksandrivka had all been liberated, and that that was “far from being the whole list”.
Ukrainian troops also freed a key village in the southern region of Kherson and recaptured the strategically important town of Lyman in eastern Ukraine.
Russian forces been forced to retreat in Ukraine’s north-east.
Earlier this week, Vladimir Saldo, the Russian-installed leader in the Kherson region, said Ukrainian forces had broken through enemy lines near Dudchany.
Western officials told The Times that Ukrainian commanders in both the Kyiv and Kherson regions were “throwing problems at the Russian chain of command faster than the Russians can effectively respond”.
The news comes as a major setback for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who signed laws yesterday absorbing four Ukrainian regions, including Kherson, into Russia.
President Joe Biden told with Zelensky on Tuesday that the US would never recognise Russian annexation.
As reported by the BBC, the pair also discussed $625m (£550m) of US aid, including Himars rocket launchers.
Putin has recently suggested that he would resort to nuclear weapons if Russia’s capture of Ukraine was not successful.
James Cleverly, the foreign secretary, said that the use of nuclear force would “not go without response”.