As Russia loses key Ukrainian city, Zelenskyy says ‘good choice for them to run away’

In what is described as a turning point in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war, Moscow has abandoned its main bastion in northeastern Ukraine, according to reports.

The Russian forces retreating from Izium in Kharkiv province is a sudden collapse of one of the war’s principal front lines after Ukrainian forces made a rapid advance. It was Moscow’s worst defeat since its troops were forced back from the capital Kyiv in March. This could prove a decisive turning point in the six-month-old war, with thousands of Russian soldiers abandoning ammunition stockpiles and equipment as they fled, according to a report by Reuters news agency.

Russian forces used Izium as the logistics base for one of their main campaigns – a months-long assault from the north on the adjacent Donbas region comprised of Donetsk and Luhansk, it said.

Russian troops regrouped

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“Izium was liberated today,” city’s mayor Valeriy Marchenko told New York Times.

“Russians escaped and left weapons and ammo behind… city centre is free,” a spokesperson for the Bohun Brigade of the Land Forces of Ukraine said in a statement, according to CNN.

Four days into Ukraine’s surprise counteroffensive in Kharkiv Oblast, Russian forces have retreated from the key cities of Kupiansk and Izium, signalling a near-total collapse of the Russian line of defence in the area, a report on Kyiv Independent said.

The Russian troops stationed at Balakleya and Izyum have been regrouped and redeployed to the Donetsk direction in order to step up efforts there, Russian Defence Ministry Spokesman Igor Konashenkov told reporters on Saturday (September 10), Russian news agency TASS reported.

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“In order to achieve the declared goals of the special military operation for the liberation of Donbass, it was decided to regroup the Russian forces stationed near Balakleya and Izyum to boost efforts in the Donetsk direction,” Konashenkov said.

“A powerful fire attack, with the air force, missile and artillery troops engaged, was conducted against the enemy to prevent harm to Russian troops,” he added.

‘2,000km of territory liberated’

Meanwhile, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said since early September, about 2,000 kilometres of Ukraine’s territory have already been liberated.

“The movement of our soldiers in different directions of the front continues. As of now, as part of active actions since the beginning of September, about 2,000 kilometres of our territory have already been liberated. These days, the Russian army is showing its best – showing its back. And, in the end, it is a good choice for them to run away. There is and will be no place for the occupiers in Ukraine,” Zelenskyy said in his address to the nation on Saturday.

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Currently, no negotiations with Russia regarding the end of the war are possible, since Moscow cannot formulate any adequate positions, he said.

He said this when he was taking part in a panel discussion at the 17th meeting of the Yalta European Strategy “Ukraine: Defending All Our Freedom”.

‘Winter is turning point’

“We want to end the war, but the space and opportunities have changed. Society does not want to talk to terrorists. Although one can communicate even with terrorists, because they know what they want,” Zelenskyy said.

He felt winter will be a “turning point”.

“I believe that this winter is a turning point, and it can lead to the rapid de-occupation of Ukraine. We see how they (occupiers) are fleeing in some directions. If we were a little stronger with weapons, we would de-occupy faster,” he said.

Zelenskyy said that the Ukrainian military will only go forward, liberating the territory of Ukraine from the invaders. “We are always ready to defend our land.”