The Russian army suffered another crushing defeat, as satellite images showed burning shells of dozens of tanks thwarted from crossing a major road near The second largest city in Ukraine, Kharkiv.
Ukrainian Defense Ministry on Wednesday Joint photos of destroyed military vehicles They are scattered around the Siverskiy Donets, a formerly Russian-controlled area about 25 miles east of Kharkiv.
Some of the still smoking vehicles were right on the banks of the river, as at least two pontoon bridges seemed to have been blown up to halt the progress.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry expressed happiness on Wednesday that some destroyed tanks “bathed in the Seversky Donets River, and some were burned by the May sun.”
Reuters said it confirmed that Ukraine now controls large swathes of land around the river after heavy fighting.
“It was burned like all Russian tanks,” a Ukrainian soldier told Reuters near Robyzhny, next to the wreckage of a Russian tank. “Weapons help a lot, anti-tank weapons.”
Reuters noted that the Ukrainian advance near Kharkiv could put some of Russia’s main supply lines in eastern Ukraine, located on the far bank of the river, in the range of Ukrainian artillery.
Thursday also highlighted the dramatic transformation in the region The British Ministry of Defense in its latest intelligence update.
“Despite Russia’s success in encircling Kharkiv in the early stages of the conflict, it was reported to have withdrawn units from the area to reorganize and replenish its forces after heavy losses,” the British agency said.
Withdrawal of Russian forces from the Kharkiv region [region] It is a tacit acknowledgment of Russia’s inability to seize the main Ukrainian cities where they expected limited resistance from the population.”
Ukraine’s General Staff said in an overnight update that the Russians are regrouping “in order to prevent our forces from advancing further” around Kharkiv.
The Defense Ministry said that while the areas were “liberated” from invaders, some Russian units managed to cross the river, noting that “the fighting continues.”
Russia’s withdrawal began enabling some residents to return to the retaken villages around Kharkiv and volunteers to provide assistance to those who remained behind.
But the areas are still unsafe – full of mines and booby-traps, and still within the range of Russian bombing.
Both sides reported strikes overnight across the border. Ukrainian officials reported cross-border shelling from the Russian town of Teutkino; Russia said Ukraine had struck Solokhy near Belgorod.
with wire