The Ukrainian government has announced that, following a string of victories in a swift counteroffensive, they will be focusing their efforts on towns in the eastern Donbas region.
The Russian military has been driven back from large swaths of occupied territory in Ukraine in recent days as the Ukrainian military has successfully retaken control.
In the Kharkiv area, President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that his forces were strengthening their control over 8,000 square kilometres (3,088 square miles) of retaken land.
Vice President Joe Biden of the United States recently praised Ukraine for its “substantial gains.”
Mr. Biden stated emphatically that the success of the advance was “obvious,” but he also warned that the offensive “may be a long haul.”
While Russia still retains control of about a fifth of Ukraine’s land, advancing soldiers from Kyiv are threatening towns in the Donbas that fell early in the war.
Russia has been focusing on the Donbas after failing to conquer towns across the country, including the capital Kyiv.
Parts of the Donbas were under the control of Russian-backed separatists prior to Russia’s invasion this year.
Andrey Marochko, the military chief of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic, one of the two provinces that make up the Donbas, recently reported to Russian official media that combat had spread to the territory’s boundaries.
Ukrainian soldiers are fighting Russian troops on the outskirts of Lyman, according to Serhiy Hayday, the exiled president of the Luhansk province.
Mr. Hayday recently reported over Telegram that “there are violent battles today in Lyman, which I expect will endure a few more days.”
After a long struggle at the end of May, Russian soldiers were able to capture Lyman. The city of Donetsk, the de facto capital of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic, is only 50 kilometres (31 miles) away.
Capturing it was a major victory for the Russian military since it gave Moscow control of a strategic east-west corridor.
According to Mr. Hayday, supply lines to the Russian-held cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk may be interrupted if Ukrainian forces were to conquer two towns, Izyum and Kupiansk.
As of yet, the BBC has not confirmed the extent of Ukraine’s victories.
War crimes accusations against Russia have surfaced as Kyiv’s soldiers advance into former Russian territory.
Some Balakliya residents told the BBC that they had been electrocuted in police custody, while others described how Russian troops had tortured citizens at the police station during their takeover.
Mahnur is MS(development Studies)Student at NUST University, completed BS Hons in Eng Literature. Content Writer, Policy analyst, Climate Change specialist, Teacher, HR Recruiter.
