As military says ‘regrouping’, Putin’s troops raise white flags and abandon key cities in the face of Ukrainian onslaught

Russian soldiers reportedly hoisted a white flag as they fled the advance of Ukrainian forces that had retaken large swaths of territory.

with great humiliation Vladimir Putin’s Russia’s Defense Ministry has admitted it was forced to withdraw from the main city of Izium in the face of an onslaught.

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This city was a major fortress in northeastern Russia. Ukraine It still holds, and its defeat could mark a major tipping point during war.

Troops there have been sent to step up operations elsewhere in Donetsk’s neighboring Russian breakaway areas.

Reports are now emerging that Russian troops flee their way humiliating defeat Around Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine in spring.

“Yesterday evening, the Russians raised a white flag near the railway station,” said a Ukrainian officer who took part in the liberation of Idium. New York Times.

As the Ukrainians advanced, there was a senior Russian officer, bloodied and bruised. Seen after capture.

The Russian announcement came hours after Ukrainian forces captured the city of Kupiansk further north. The city is the only rail hub that supplies the entire Russian front line across northeastern Ukraine.

A Ukrainian official has posted a photo of his country’s troops flying the country’s blue and yellow flags in front of Kupiansk’s city hall at dawn.

Ukrainian forces have recaptured dozens of towns and villages held by Russia for months since breaking through the front lines earlier this week.

As a result, thousands of Russian troops were suddenly cut off of supplies across fronts that saw some of the fiercest fighting of the war.

“Although much is still unknown about the attack, it is clear that it was well planned and executed by the Ukrainian military,” said Rob Lee, a military analyst at the Foreign Policy Institute.

“It looks like a very effective combined arms operation with tanks, mechanized infantry, special operations forces, air defense, artillery and other systems.”

Mark Hartling, a retired four-star general and former commander of the U.S. Army in Europe, tweeted, “No doubt Ukraine is running a great operation.”

“But Russia is helping them – doing little to counter them,” he added.

Russian forces fought hard to capture Idium early in the war.

It was used as a logistics base in one of their main campaigns. A months-long offensive from the north against the neighboring Donbass region.

Russia’s defeat could be a decisive turning point in the six-month war, with thousands of Russian soldiers abandoning their ammunition stocks and equipment as they fled.

It brought a swift and abrupt end to the period in which the war had been fought as a constant shatter on a static front, supporting Moscow’s superiority in raw firepower.

Ukraine’s top commander has expressed concern that Russia’s defeat on the battlefield could lead to Putin’s orders. use of nuclear weapons.

Ukrainian officials have yet to confirm that Idium has been recaptured.

But President Volodymyr Zelensky’s Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak tweeted a grape emoji.

The word “Izium” means “raisin” in Ukrainian and Russian.

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