Russia loses control of key northeastern towns in Ukraine

According to a media report on Sep 11th, Russian troops gave up their major fortress in northeastern Ukraine the day earlier, triggering a collapse of one of its main front lines after Ukrainian forces’ rapid advance. The swift fall of Izium in Kharkiv province was the Kremlin’s greatest defeat since its withdrawal of troops from the capital Kyiv this March. This also might become the decisive turning point in the war, where thousands of Russian soldiers abandoned ammunition depots and equipment when fleeing. Izium was used as the logistics base by Russian forces for one of their main campaigns.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy welcomed the retreat of Moscow’s forces, saying around 2,000 square kilometers of territory have been emancipated by Kyiv’s armed forces since their counteroffensive launched earlier this month. A few hours before Moscow’s withdrawal announcement, Kyiv forces seized the city of Kupiansk further north, the only railway hub providing supplies to Russia’s entire front line across northeastern Ukraine. This suddenly cut off the supplies of thousands of Russian troops at some sections of front lines witnessing the fiercest battles. Early on Sep 10th, Ukrainian officials posted photos in which their troops raised the blue-and-yellow national flag in front of Kupiansk’s city hall.

There were other signs that Moscow troops also got into trouble at the remaining eastern front line, which some pro-Kremlin officials admitted. Zelenskyy said Ukrainian armed forces continued advancing in different areas of the front line.