LVIV, Ukraine (Reuters) – Ukrainian troops are recapturing towns east of the capital Kyiv and Russian forces who had been trying to sieze the city are falling back on their overextended supply lines, Britain said on Friday.
U.S. President Joe Biden meanwhile was due to visit Poland for a first-hand look at the refugee crisis in which nearly a quarter of Ukraine’s 44 million people have been uprooted and more than 3.6 million have fled to neighbouring states since the Russian invasion on Feb. 24.
A month into their assault, Russian troops have failed to capture a major Ukrainian city. An offensive that Western countries believe was aimed at swiftly toppling President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s government has been halted at the gates of Kyiv.
Battlelines there have been frozen for weeks with Russian columns threatening Kyiv from the northwest and the east. But in an intelligence update on Friday, Britain described a Ukrainian counter-offensive that had pushed the Russians far back.
“Ukrainian counter-attacks, and Russian forces falling back on overextended supply lines, has allowed Ukraine to reoccupy towns and defensive positions up to 35 km east of Kyiv,” the update said.
It said Ukrainian forces were also likely to try to push the Russians back on the other main axis threatening Kyiv from the northwest, while in the south Russia could still be planning to attack the port of Odesa after abandoning efforts to take Mykolaiv.
The Ukrainian military said its troops were repelling Russian forces trying to fight their way into Kyiv. Troops were also still holding on to the city of Chernihiv, northeast of Kyiv, hindering a Russian advance in the direction of the capital.
Source: Hamodia