Ukraine’s ZOLOCHIV, Sept. 13 (Reuters) – Volodymyr Zelenskiy, the president of Ukraine, urged the West to expedite the delivery of military systems as Ukrainian forces work to regain control of a sizable portion of Russia’s land 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.
The comments to reporters from the Pentagon came after a weekend in which Ukrainian soldiers made quick progress. As Ukrainian forces stormed deeper into territory taken from fleeing Russian troops, the general staff of Ukraine said that its men had reclaimed more than 20 towns and villages in just the previous day.
The U.S. military representative was optimistic but circumspect when discussing the Ukrainian gains.
The official noted the work being made in the south and east to regain land and declared, “It’s apparent they’re battling hard.”
In what was still Russian-held territory in the Kharkiv region, Vitaly Ganchev, the Russian-installed director of Moscow’s occupation administration, admitted that Ukrainian forces had advanced to the border.
The official noted a sizable withdrawal but did not specify how many departing Russian forces had left Ukrainian territory and entered Russia.
“On the ground, we believe that Russian forces have mostly given up their gains to the Ukrainians and have withdrew to the north and east in the area of Kharkiv. Several of these forces have crossed into Russia “added the spokesman.