Russia announces troop pullback from Ukraine's Kharkiv area

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: AP

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia’s Defense Ministry announced Saturday that it’s pulling back troops from two areas in Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region where a Ukrainian counteroffensive has made significant advances in the past week. The news came after days of apparent advances by Ukraine south of Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, in what could become the biggest battlefield success for Ukrainian forces since they thwarted a Russian attempt to seize the capital of Kyiv at the start of the nearly seven-month war.

Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said Saturday that troops would be regrouped from the Balakliya and Izyum areas to Ukraine’s tern Donetsk region. Izyum was a major base for Russian forces in the Kharkiv region and earlier this week social media videos showed residents of Balakliya joyfully cheering as Ukrainian troops moved in. Konashenkov said the Russian move is being made “in order to achieve the stated goals of the special military operation to liberate Donbas,’” one of the eastern Ukraine regions that Russia has declared sovereign.

The claim of pullback to concentrate on Donetsk is similiar to the justification Russia gave for pulling back its forces from the Kyiv region earlier this year when they failed to take the Ukrainian capital. Ukrainian officials earlier Saturday claimed major gains in a counteroffensive against Russian forces in the Kharkiv region, saying Ukrainian troops had cut off vital supplies to Izyum.

Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko also suggested the Ukrainian troops had retaken Kupiansk, a town along the main supply route to Izyum, long a focus on the Russian front line and the site of heavy artillery and other fighting. Nikolenko tweeted a photo showing soldiers in front of what he said was a government building in Kupiansk, 73 kilometers (45 miles) north of Izyum. The Ukrainian Security Service of Ukraine hours later posted a message which it said showed its forces in Kupiansk, further suggesting it had been seized by Ukrainian troops. The Ukrainian military didn’t immediately confirm entering the town, a railway hub that Russia seized in February.

Read more: https://apnews.com/article/russia-ukraine-kyiv-world-news-kharkiv-e06b2aa723e826ed4105b5f32827f577

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Article now updated. Original article -

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia’s Defense Ministry said Saturday that it is pulling back forces from two areas in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region where a Ukrainian counter offensive has made significant advances in the past week.

Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said the troops would be regrouped from the Balakliya and Izyum areas to the Donetsk region. Izyum was a major base for Russian forces in the Kharkiv region.

Konashenkov said the move is being made “in order to achieve the stated goals of the special military operation to liberate Donbas,’” one of the eastern Ukraine regions that Russia has declared sovereign.

The claim of pullback to concentrate on Donetsk is similiar to the justification Russia gave for pulling back its forces from the Kyiv region earlier this year.

THIS IS A BREAKING NEWS UPDATE.

[Wingus Dingus]

1. They lie though, so...who knows.

[BumRushDaShow]

2. Well the Ukrainian government confirmed recapture of one of the cities there

and that their forces there raised the Ukrainian flag in that main city in the region.

Link to tweet

Defense of Ukraine
@DefenceU
·
Follow
Ukraine government organization
The town of Balakliya, Kharkiv region, is liberated by Ukrainian troops!
The Commander of Ukrainian Land Forces, Hero of Ukraine, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi is leading the Ukrainian offensive in this sector.
The Ukrainian flag has been raised in the town centre.

[GregariousGroundhog]

13. Indeed, I'm not convinced that the the Russian's have enough time to pull back

They are surrounded by Ukrainians from the North, the West, and the South. Russia only has about a 20 mile stretch of land left between Ukranian forces to the South and the Oskil River to the East from which they can escape.

I suspect most of the decently effective combat units are all down in Kherson, so the odds of Russia's being able protect their escape route and/or to break out of the pocket Ukraine created aren't very high at this point.

[wnylib]

24. Good. Let the Ukranians hold them hostage for

trading to get back the Ukrainians that Russia forced to move to Russia.

[ColinC]

21. It's not cause they wanna

Ukraine has taken back substantial territory I the east around kharkiv, and seem to have retaken Izyum. Even rumors they have broken down the line of defense in Donbas.

[yaesu]

3. Russia is unwittingly supplying a lot of rifles to the Ukrainians, never shot & only dropped once.

[rurallib]

4. !

[COL Mustard]

11. And by coincidence, they're the same caliber the Ukrainians use!

Plus, they already know how to use them...no additional training required!

[3auld6phart]

15. Like your opinion

[ColinC]

27. Not just rifles

Link to tweet

?s=19

Link to tweet

?s=19

[rurallib]

5. Feels like admitting a failure like this is a biggie

Although they did couch it in "strategy" language.

[sarge43]

6. The Red Army's General Staff better stay away from windows. n/t

[Crataegus]

7. Ukraine advances

It appears that Ukraine forces have taken Izium.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Izium

They are also In Kupiansk, which is the main rail hub for that area.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kupiansk

Slava Ukraini 🇺🇦

[Leghorn21]

8. !!!!!!!!

Current mood of Ukrainian army

Link to tweet

The Ukrainian counter-offensive in Kharkiv is the type of action that'll be written about and analyzed for decades - maybe centuries.

A truly masterful piece of strategic thinking, executed perfectly at the tactical level. We are watching military history unfolding right now.

Link to tweet

[OnlinePoker]

9. The Ukrainian advance has been so rapid, most lines of retreat are cut off.

Russia is going to be leaving behind much equipment and a lot of POWs from this Ukrainian offensive. This could free the entire north east of the country.

[COL Mustard]

10. The Russian Ministry of Defense statement:

"We were leaving anyway. It's an ugly little town and we never really wanted it."

I wonder how many Ukrainians they kidnapped from there who will never be allowed to go back.

[BumRushDaShow]

17. I saw a report where they couched as

"redirect and regroup".

[Sky Jewels]

22. "I didn't really know Kharkiv and hardly saw it. It just fetched coffee for me once in a while."

[FossFafy]

12. don't tell tucker carlson

Link to tweet

[SergeStorms]

20. Like Trump and all his MAGAts....

Tuckie lives in an alternate reality where facts can find no purchase. Night after night Tuckie lies to his loyal viewers who are so averse to reality they can no longer function in the real world. It's sad and dangerous.

Carlson belongs in prison along with the rest of the Trump cabal. He's as traitorous as Trump for knowingly spreading lies and propaganda to the American people.

[onetexan]

30. Spot on!! K&R

[XorXor]

35. What is this guy's deal?

Him and other conservatives who are supporting Russia baffle my mind. I expect the far right libertarians and certain segments of the always anti-west fat-left to support Russia (or rather be anti-US/west), buy I didn't expect it from so many people on the right. I know it's not all of them, but it's a lot larger number than I'd think. I wonder if these guys like Tucker are explicitly working with the Russians for personal gain or because they have compromising info, or if it's more of an indirect collaboration because they need to be opposed to everything done while Biden is in office. So, it's not so much that they support Russia, but rather they support the opposite of anything done by this admin.

[SheltieLover]

14. Kicking for visibility

[DenaliDemocrat]

16. Pulling them back in bodybags

It’s a route and they are downplaying it

[CaptainTruth]

18. Saw videos of Russian troops & tanks running yesterday.

From Ukrainian drone cameras, via various OSINT sources.

In one case a Russian tank going full throttle down a rural road, with troops piled on it, trying to escape, but Ukrainian troops were hidden in the tree line on both sides of the road, just blasting away at It. It was brutal.

[Chainfire]

19. Pullback? Yea, the real question is it a retreat or a rout? ;)

[getagrip_already]

23. a pullback without heavy weapons' or ammo, on foot.....

With soldiers given no clear direction where to go.....

Probably has a more fitting name.

I vote for rout.

[wnylib]

25. Royal Albert Hall, London. After the intro, the music starts

[Botany]

26. And may every single Russian who is still fighting die, get behind the Russian troops and encirlce..

.... them, and get those Swedish attack jets into the action too. Let the Russians know they have 3 choices:

Walk towards the Ukrainian troops with their hands up and surrender. (after they shoot their senior officers if possible)

Keep on fighting get wounded and/or die.

Go back to Russia, tell the people the truth and kill Putin in a new Russian revolution. 25% of Russians do not have
indoor plumbing.



3 to 4 days ago in the Kharkiv region.

[OnlinePoker]

32. Don't shoot the senior officers

Their incompetence is one of the greatest advantages Ukraine has in this war.

[Happy Hoosier]

28. They were routed.

They didn’t pull back; they were routed. They were forced out of their primary logistics hub and left a huge amount of supplies behind.

[honest.abe]

29. Its not a "pull-back", it's a retreat.

Russia is losing this war.

[brooklynite]

31. "Advance to the rear"

[Tom Rinaldo]

33. Losers retreat during wars. During "Special Military Operations" they "pull back." n/t

[electric_blue68]

34. Heh! 🧡🌻🇺🇦🌻🧡