Ukrainian President Says Russian Troop Fleeing Was ‘Right Decision’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the Russian army was making “a correct decision” to evade Ukraine’s counteroffensive that has made significant progress in the east and south.

Zelensky made the remarks in a video released by his office hours after Moscow said it would withdraw troops from parts of the Kharkiv region, which Ukrainian forces have taken control of most of the territory in recent days .

“These days, the Russian military is showing the best it can do — showing its back,” the president said.

“Certainly, it was a good decision for them.”

The news comes days after Ukraine made apparent progress south of the country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, in what could be the Ukrainian army’s biggest success on the battlefield as they thwarted Russia at the start of the war Attempt to seize the capital, Kyiv. nearly seven months of war.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said troops would be regrouped from the Baraklya and Izyum regions to the eastern Donetsk region.

Izyum is the main base for Russian troops in the Kharkiv region, and earlier this week, social media videos showed residents of Baraklia cheering as Ukrainian troops moved in.

Konashenkov said Russia’s move was “to achieve the stated goals of a special military operation to liberate the Donbass, one of the eastern regions of Ukraine that Russia has declared sovereignty over.”

Claims to withdraw troops to focus on Donetsk are similar to Russia’s rationale for withdrawing troops from the Kyiv region when it failed to capture the capital earlier this year.

Earlier on Saturday, Ukrainian officials claimed significant progress in the Kharkiv region, saying their forces had cut off vital supplies to Izyum.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Ole Nikolenko also said the army had recaptured Kupiansk, a town along the main supply route to Igyum that has long been concentrated on the Russian front and heavy artillery and other the location of the battle.

Mr Nikolenko tweeted a photo of soldiers standing in front of what he said was a government building in Kupiansk, 45 miles north of Izyum.

Hours later, the Ukrainian Security Service released news that the troops were in Kupiansk, further suggesting it had been detained. The military did not immediately confirm access to the town, a railway hub that Russia seized in February.

Video on social media appeared to show Ukrainian troops at a roadside checkpoint on the outskirts of Izyum. A large statue with the name of the city can be seen in the image. The Ukrainian army does not recognize control of the city.

Britain’s Ministry of Defence said it believed Ukrainian forces had advanced as far as 30 miles south of Kharkiv, and described Russian forces around Izum as “increasingly isolated”.

“The Russian army could be caught off guard. The sector is only lightly controlled, and Ukrainian forces have captured or surrounded several towns,” the British military said, adding that the loss of Kupiansk would greatly affect Russian supply lines.