Saturday 14 May 2022 01:46 PM Russia has LOST the battle for Ukraine's second largest city Kharkiv after ... trends now
Russian forces are giving up on Ukraine's second city of Kharkiv and retreating after weeks of bombardment and a failed effort to encircle it.
Ukraine's general staff said the Russians were pulling back from the northeastern city and focusing on guarding supply routes, as Kyiv and Moscow's forces engaged in a grinding battle for the country's eastern industrial heartland.
Russian forces will instead focus on launching mortar, artillery and airstrikes in the eastern Donetsk province in order to 'deplete Ukrainian forces and destroy fortifications.'
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, said Ukraine 'appears to have won the Battle of Kharkiv.' It said, 'Ukrainian forces prevented Russian troops from encircling, let alone seizing Kharkiv, and then expelled them from around the city.'
It means Ukrainian artillery can now threaten the town of Vovchansk, which contains a key highway and rail line supplying Russian forces in Donbas.
Pictured: A Ukrainian Army soldier walks past a burning natural gas terminal on May 13, 2022 on the northern outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine. Russian forces are giving up on Ukraine's second city of Kharkiv and retreating after spending weeks bombarding it
Pictured: Ukrainian units patrol the surroundings of Kharkiv in the wake of the Russian retreat. Ukraine's general staff said the Russians were pulling back from the northeastern city and focusing on guarding supply routes, as Kyiv and Moscow's forces engaged in a grinding battle for the country's eastern industrial heartland
Pictured: A destroyed Russian armored vehicle pictured on May 13, 2022 on the northern outskirts of Kharkiv, Ukraine. Russian forces will instead focus on launching mortar, artillery and airstrikes in the eastern Donetsk province in order to 'deplete Ukrainian forces and destroy fortifications'
Pictured: A damaged Russian tank turret blown clean off the chassis near the village of Mala Rohan, Kharkiv, Ukraine, 13 May 2022
A rocket is launched from a truck-mounted multiple rocket launcher near Svyatohirsk, eastern Ukraine, on May 14
Ukrainian artillery can now threaten the town of Vovchansk, which contains a key highway and rail line supplying Russian forces in Donbas
Ukraine has launched a counteroffensive near Izyum, a city 78 miles south of Kharkiv that has been under effective Russian control since at least the beginning of April
The mayor of Kharkiv, Ihor Terekhov, told the BBC that Russian troops had only ever managed to enter a small part of the key north-eastern city once, and were not there for a long time.
'The Russians were constantly shelling Kharkiv because they were staying very close to the city.'
But now that they had retreated, 'people are gradually coming back to the city. We provide water, gas and electricity supply to all the citizens.
'However, unfortunately, many residential buildings are destroyed or damaged. So, in the future we will have to do huge reconstruction.'
Regional governor Oleh Sinegubov said in a post on the Telegram messaging app that there had been no shelling attacks on Kharkiv in the past day.
He added that Russian troops had heavily minded the region and smaller towns and settlements were still under threat.
'This indicates that it is too early to relax,' he said. 'I urge everyone to respond adequately to alarms and not to be on the streets unnecessarily.'
He said Ukraine had launched a counteroffensive near Izyum, a city 78 miles south of Kharkiv that has been under effective Russian control since at least the beginning of April.
Pictured: A damaged Russian tank near the village of Mala Rohan, near Kharkiv, Ukraine, May 13
A garden statue sits next to a damaged home on May 13, 2022 on the northern outskirts of Kharkiv
Fighting was fierce on the Siversky Donets River near the city of Severodonetsk, where Ukraine has launched counterattacks but failed to halt Russia's advance, said Oleh Zhdanov, an independent Ukrainian military analyst.
'The fate of a large portion of
