Wednesday 14 September 2022 09:26 AM Ukraine war: Zelensky speaks of victory while Russian propagandists admit defeat trends now
Russia is holding its collective head in its hands today as Putin's puppet propagandists try to work out where it all went wrong for their army after Ukraine's stunning counter-attack led to a rout of their troops.
Typically loyal Kremlin mouthpieces flooded the airwaves Monday night with rare admissions of a 'serious defeat' around Kharkiv while warning Russia is at risk of losing the war - which they said could prove 'fatal' to the country.
Karen Shakhnazarov, a film-maker and Kremlin loyalist, told viewers of Vladimir Solovyov's nightly show that Russia is now in a 'serious position' in what he admitted is a 'war' with a 'strong adversary' - adding that Moscow's armed forces 'were not ready' for the fight they are now facing.
At the same time, President Zelensky was speaking of yet more territory gained by his armed forces - reassuring people that borders are being secured and pockets of Russian resistance wiped out in an area of around 3,000 square miles that has been recaptured since the start of the month.
'I think all our fighters who ensured such a large-scale and quick defeat of the invaders in the territory of the Kharkiv region,' he said in his nightly address.
The contrast could not have been clearer: As the war nears the end of its seventh month, Ukraine is beginning to see a path to victory emerge while Russia is coming to terms with the very real possibility of total defeat.
Karen Shakhnazarov, a regular talking-head on Russian state TV, told viewers of a 'serious defeat' for the Russian military in Kharkiv that could prove 'fatal' to the whole country
Russia's typically-loyal Putin propagandists were highly critical of the war effort on state TV on Monday night as they contemplated the possibility of total defeat in Ukraine
President Zelensky used his late-night address to hail the continued success of Ukraine's counter-attack in northern Ukraine, saying that even more territory had been seized and pockets of Russian resistance were being wiped out
Underlining that sense of impeding victory, the Ukrainian mayor of the occupied city of Melitopol said overnight that Russian troops are starting to withdraw - having held that territory since the early days of the war.
Ivan Fedorov wrote on Telegram that columns of military equipment were reported at a checkpoint in Chonhar, as Russian troops apparently beat a retreat to occupied Crimea.
If Ukraine has forces capable of re-taking the city, then it would break the so-called 'land bridge' that Russia spent months establishing between occupied areas of Donbas and Crimea.
That would mean Russian forces currently fighting tooth-and-nail for the city of Kherson would be all-but cut off from resupply from the mainland, except for the vulnerable bridge crossing the Kerch Strait.
It would also open up an avenue for Ukraine to attack Mariupol - the now-destroyed city that Russia made one of the main targets of its 'special military operation - and further weaken the position of its forces in Donbas.
Russian troops in Donetsk and Luhansk - the two regions which together make up the Donbas - are already in a precarious position after Ukraine's counter-attack out of Kharkiv severed some of their main supply routes.
The cities of Izyum, Kupyansk and Vovchansk which formed the staging post for its attacks in the region and contain key railway lines to get ammo and other supplies to its soldiers are now under Ukrainian control.
Kyiv's rapid advance has now slowed as Russian troops regroup and try to re-establish a frontline, with fighting said to be ongoing around Lyman, Rubizhne, Lysychansk and Severodonetsk.
In the newly freed village of Chkalovske in the Kharkiv region, Svitlana Honchar said the Russians' departure was sudden and swift.
'They left like the wind,' Honchar said Tuesday after loading cans of food aid into her car. 'They were fleeing by any means they could.'
Some Russians appeared to have been left behind in the hasty retreat. 'They were trying to catch up,' she said.
It was not yet clear if the Ukrainian blitz, which unfolded after months of little discernible movement, could signal a turning point in the nearly seven-month war.
A Ukrainian soldier hold up a mud-stained Russian flag after driving Putin's forces out of a huge area to the east of Kharkiv
RUssian tanks and armoured vehicles destroyed in fighting are revealed behind the backs of Putin's retreating forces
A graveyard of rusting Russian tanks and armoured vehicles is uncovered as Putin's troops retreat from the Kharkiv region
An armoured vehicle destroyed earlier in the war is revealed as Ukraine's forces recapture territory around Kharkiv
But the country's officials were buoyant, releasing footage showing their forces burning Russian flags and inspecting abandoned, charred tanks. In one video, border guards tore down a poster that read, 'We are one people with Russia.'
Momentum has switched back and forth before, and Ukraine's American allies were careful not to declare a premature victory since Russian President Vladimir Putin still has troops and resources to tap.
In the face of Russia's largest defeat since its botched attempt to capture Kyiv early in the war, Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said troops were hitting back with 'massive strikes' in all sectors. But there were no immediate reports of a sudden uptick in Russian attacks.
Reports of chaos abounded as Russian troops pulled out - as well as claims that they were surrendering en masse. The claims could not be confirmed.
Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense Hanna Maliar said Kyiv is trying to persuade even more Russian soldiers to give up, launching shells filled with flyers ahead of their advance.
'Russians use you as cannon fodder. Your life doesn't mean anything for them. You don't need this war. Surrender to Armed Forces of Ukraine,' the flyers read.
In the wake of the retreat, Ukrainian authorities moved into several areas to investigate alleged atrocities committed by Russian troops against civilians.
Since Saturday, the Kharkiv regional police have repeatedly reported that local law enforcement officers have found civilian bodies bearing signs of torture across territories formerly held by Russia. It was not possible to verify their statements.
On Tuesday, regional police alleged that Russian troops set up 'a torture chamber' at the local police station in Balakliya, a town of 25,000, that was occupied from March until last week.
In a Facebook post, the head of the police force's investigative department, Serhii Bolvinov, cited testimony from Balakliya residents and claimed that Russian troops 'always kept at least 40 people captive' on the premises.
Meanwhile, military analysts sought to understand the blow sustained by Moscow.
British intelligence said that one premier force, the 1st Guards Tank Army, had been 'severely degraded' during the invasion, along with the conventional Russian forces designed to counter NATO.
A Ukrainian soldier sits on top of a captured Russian vehicle after Putin's men fled and left hundreds of them behind
An overturned Russian armoured vehicle sinks into a quagmire beneath a road bridge after apparently driving itself off the road amid a chaotic retreat from the area around Kharkiv
The remains of an armoured vehicle (centre right) are seen on a destroyed road bridge in the newly-recaptured city of Izyum
Russia artillery shells captured by the Ukrainian Armed Forces during its counter-attack near Kharkiv are seen in Izyum
'It will likely take years for Russia to rebuild this capability,' the British officials said.
The setback might renew Russia's interest in peace talks, said Abbas Gallyamov, an independent Russian political analyst and former speechwriter for Putin.
But even if Putin were to sit down at the negotiating table, Zelenskyy has made it clear that Russia must return all Ukrainian territory, including Crimea, Gallyamov said.
'This is unacceptable to Moscow, so talks are, strictly speaking, impossible,' he said.
Putin's previous actions 'have restricted his room to maneuver,' so he 'wouldn't be able to put anything meaningful on the table.'
For talks to be possible, Putin 'would need to leave and be replaced by someone who's relatively untarnished by the current situation,' such as his deputy chief of staff, the Moscow mayor or the Russian prime minister, Gallyamov said.
The retreat did not stop Russia from pounding Ukrainian positions. It shelled the city of Lozova in the Kharkiv region, killing three people and injuring nine, said regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov.
And Ukrainian officials said Russia kept up shelling around Europe's largest nuclear facility, where fighting has raised fears of
