Ukrainian troops are recapturing cities east of Kiev, and Russian troops, which were trying to take the capital, are retreating. The information comes from the latest UK intelligence report and is one of the strongest indications so far of a shift in the momentum of the war that has entered its second month.
During the 30 days of conflict, Russian troops failed to capture major Ukrainian cities. The offensive that the West believed was aimed at overthrowing President Volodymyr Zelensky was stopped in Kiev.
Instead, Russia is bombing, besieging and besieging strategic targets in Ukraine, such as the city of Mariupol, which was largely destroyed after three weeks of Russian attacks.
Meanwhile, US President Joe Biden is on his way to Europe after a day of meetings that created high expectations about the course of the war. This Friday, the American visits Poland, the country that has received most of the 3.6 million refugees who have left Ukraine since the beginning of the conflict.
According to the United Kingdom, Ukrainian counterattacks and the apparent retreat of the Russians have allowed Ukraine to regain cities and positions east of the capital.
Volodymyr Borisenko, the mayor of Borispol, where Kiev’s main airport is located, said more than 20,000 civilians had left the area in response to a request to withdraw so that Ukrainian troops could try to force the Russians further back.
On Thursday (24), according to Borisenko, Ukrainian forces had regained control over a region between Borispol and Brovari and would have advanced further, but stopped to avoid the danger that the operation would pose to civilians.
On another front, northwest of Kiev, the clashes take place amid ruins left by the fighting of recent weeks. In Irpin, Bucha and Hostomel, Ukrainian troops try to encircle the Russians. Northeast of the capital, the mission is to stop the Russian advance from the city of Chernihiv, which, according to the local government, is surrounded by enemy forces.
In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city that has been bombed since the early days of the war, authorities said at least four people had died in an attack on a relief distribution centre.
NATO has so far ruled out direct intervention by land and Zelensky’s reiterated call for the creation of a no-fly zone over Ukraine. The alliance, however, supported Kiev by sending hundreds of anti-tank and anti-aircraft weapons that gave the Ukrainian resistance some breath and prevented Russia from taking control of the airspace.
