Russian troops continued to advance on Saturday in Donbas, in eastern Ukraine and where the Ukrainian Army is resisting the attacks of Russian artillery and aviation, whose objective is to conquer the entire territory of Donetsk and Lugansk, while Kyiv manages to breathe with some ease after more than a month of siege.
“Russian forces are massing in Donbas, towards Kharkiv, and are preparing for even more powerful attacks,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message posted online.
Corps in Bucha and Russian troops leave Kyiv
Meanwhile, the situation is calming down in the center of the country after the announced withdrawal of the Russian Army.
Around Kyiv and in the northern province of Chernihiv, the Ukrainian Army was gaining more ground in the areas that were under Russian occupation, as its troops continue their withdrawal from the north of the country “slowly but clearly”, he confirmed. Zelensky.
Bucha, a city northwest of Kyiv that suffered a harsh Russian siege, was “liberated” today, as announced by its mayor Anatoly Fedoruk, and fully controlled by Ukrainian forces, who also regained control of the strategic airport in neighboring Hostomel, taken by the Russians in the first days of the invasion.
Emergency teams have continued to evacuate residents in both Irpin and Bucha, where most of those who remain are elderly.
The first images of the interior of Bucha show a degree of devastation similar to that seen days ago in Irpin, with corpses of civilians handcuffed in the streets; while the authorities have recalled that it is still early to return to the liberated areas since the Russians have mined land in their withdrawal.
It is still impossible to return to normal life, we have to hope to recover our land and as long as it is certain that there will be no new bombings,” Zelensky insisted.
In the center of Kyiv today there was a certain calm, although the anti-aircraft alarms sounded a couple of times in the afternoon, with more people walking on the street and more open cafes, without the military presence having diminished or the numerous barricades removed. .
Russia moves to Donbas
In the morning, the pro-Russian militias of Donetsk partially took the town of Novobájtumovka, located north of the regional capital, after facing units of the 25th Airborne Brigade of the Ukrainian Army, according to the Russian Defense Ministry in its morning part.
The spokesman for the Russian military entity, Igor Konashénkov, pointed out that the militias had caused up to 40 casualties to the Ukrainian troops, in addition to destroying a platoon of tanks, two platoons of motorized infantry, and a battery of mortars.
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