Ukrainians Liberate Multiple Towns Near Kharkiv As Putin Panics

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Jurisdictions including Oleksandrivka, Fedorivka, Ukrainka, Shestakove, Peremoha, and part of the village of Cherkaski Tyshky have been reclaimed by Ukrainian troops in the Kharkiv region as Ukraine continues its resolute fight against Russian aggression. Russian forces are seeking to take full control of Ukraine’s Donetsk and Luhansk regions, and amid their efforts, they’re pursuing a land corridor between currently Russian-held territory and the Crimean peninsula, which Russia annexed — seizing it from Ukraine — in 2014.

The city of Kharkiv, which is the second-largest city in Ukraine, has been consistently targeted by Russian troops throughout the currently unfolding war. In the broader region including the city, Russians control jurisdictions including Izyum, where Kharkiv-area Governor Oleh Synehubov says Russians “tried to mobilize the local population, forcing them to join the armed forces of the Russian Federation.” Residents of the region have also been forced to leave for Russia, according to the same source. As for the course ahead, “When we liberate settlements, we see both civilian casualties and the bodies of the Russian military, which they do not take away. We record all this so that no war crime is ignored by justice,” Synehubov added. Temporarily occupied settlements in the Kyiv region that have since been liberated were the sites of atrocities committed by Russian troops against local civilians that shook the world, but the horrors extend from there.

Russian aggression is continuing in Mariupol, another large and long-targeted Ukrainian city. In Mariupol, tens of thousands are believed to have already died amid relentless Russian attacks, with reports of mobile crematoriums operated by Russian personnel and so-called filtration camps where Ukrainian civilians are interrogated for links to interests such as independent media and the democratically elected Ukrainian government. Detainees suspected of such ties have reportedly faced possibilities of torture and murder by Russian troops. According to U.K. authorities, “The renewed effort by Russia to secure Azovstal and complete the capture of Mariupol is likely linked to the upcoming 9 May Victory Day commemorations and Putin’s desire to have a symbolic success in Ukraine.” The large Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol ended up as one of the final local sites for confrontation between Russian and Ukrainian troops; some civilians trapped there were recently gotten out, and despite Putin making a show of ordering Russian troops to blockade instead of attempt to storm the premises, a Russian ground assault was recently unfolding.

As for further Ukrainian strategic successes, there was a recently reported strike on the Russian warship known as the Admiral Makarov operating near Ukraine’s Snake Island, although this reputed hit by Ukrainian forces hasn’t been officially confirmed and could be just a rumor. There have been confirmed hits by Ukraine on Russian positions on Snake Island, though — Ukrainian forces said they destroyed a Russian command center on the island, and an ammunition depot on the island and two Russian boats near the island were also hit, according to Ukraine’s military. Earlier, Ukrainian forces also destroyed Russian anti-aircraft weaponry and a communications vehicle on the island, according to the same source.