Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed his forces have taken back over 3,000 square kilometres (~74,000 acres) from Russia within the last two weeks.
Ukrainian forces have reportedly recaptured 3,000 square kilometres (~74,000 acres) of lost territory from Russia since the start of September, President Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed, in what appears to be the latest momentum shift in the conflict between the warring states.
Since Russia’s renewed invasion of the country in late February this year, the distribution of disinformation and propaganda has been widespread on both sides of the conflict, with both Russia and Ukraine having been caught disseminating biased stories and data, if not outright falsehoods, to help service their war efforts.
However, while the overall picture of the conflict remains somewhat murky, it now appears that Russian forces have been put on the back foot in the conflict, with multiple reports indicating that a Ukrainian counter-offensive has seen the invaders forced into a retreat, surrendering wide swathes of territory in the process.
According to a report by Reuters, Zelensky is now claiming that thousands of square kilometres have been retaken from Russia, while one of the country’s generals has claimed that Ukrainian forces are now within 50 kilometres of the Russia border in some places.
“I believe that this winter is a turning point, and it can lead to the rapid de-occupation of Ukraine,” Volodymyr Zelensky is reported as saying. “We see how they are fleeing in some directions.”
The Ukrainian president went on to say that they could accelerate the process if handed additional weapons, in what appears to be a thinly-veiled appeal for the Western powers to send him even more arms.
Zelensky’s claim that Ukraine is now retaking vast amounts of territory previously occupied by Russia is backed by British officials, with the United Kingdom’s Ministry of Defence claiming on Sunday that the counter-offensive is making significant progress.
“Over the last 24 hours, Ukrainian forces have continued to make significant gains in the Kharkiv region,” the ministry wrote online.
“Russia has likely withdrawn units from the area, but fighting continues around the strategically important cities of Kupiansk and Izium,” it went on to say.
Although Russian officials have not openly acknowledged the success or lack thereof of a Ukrainian counter-offensive, the country’s Ministry of Defence has admitted that troops in Balakleya and Izyum have been “redeployed” to better secure Donetsk.
This, Russian officials claim, was done in order to enable these troops to “reach preestablished objectives” in what it still calls a “special military operation”.
The Russian ministry has also accused Ukrainian forces of deliberately shelling energy infrastructure “in order to destabilize the situation in the territory liberated by the Russian Armed Forces”, with officials specifically accusing Ukraine of having targeted the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant.
This accusation has been repeatedly denied by Ukrainian officials, who instead blame Moscow for attacks on the Russian-occupied plant.