Ukraine has reclaimed its territory urging Russian troops to fall back (Photo – Reuters)
As the war between Russia and Ukraine advanced into its eighth month in September, a major feat was achieved by Kyiv as it managed to reclaim a major chunk of its territory from Russian troops, who were forced to fall back after the counteroffensive.
Due to their swift planning and strong counteroffensive against the Russian invasion, Ukraine was able to achieve a major feat even as a nuclear power plant in the Russia-occupied south completely shut down in a bid to prevent a radiation disaster as fighting raged nearby.
Kyiv’s action to reclaim Russia-occupied areas in the Kharkiv region forced Moscow to withdraw its troops to prevent them from being surrounded, leaving behind significant numbers of weapons and munitions in a hasty retreat as the war marked its 200th day on Sunday.
A jubilant Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mocked the Russians in a video address Saturday night, saying “the Russian army in these days is demonstrating the best that it can do – showing its back,” as per PTI reports.
Along with the jibe at Vladimir Putin-led Russia, Zelenskyy shared a video of Ukrainian soldiers hoisting the national flag over Chkalovske, another town reclaimed in the counter-offensive. Though nothing but ruins remained in the area, the Ukrainian troops vowed to “restore everything” in the city.
While most attention was focused on the counteroffensive, Ukraine’s nuclear energy operator said the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, Europe’s largest, was reconnected to Ukraine’s electricity grid, allowing engineers to shut down its last operational reactor to safeguard the plant amid the fighting.
The war between Russia and Ukraine began when the former breached the Ukrainian border and launched a series of attacks on Kyiv, with heavy shelling raining on residential areas which led to major destruction of property.
Over the last months, Ukraine has reported several atrocities from the war against its citizens, ranging from shallow graves with hundreds of people and civilians being shot by the Russian army at point blank range, as per media reports.
(With PTI inputs)
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