Putin’s Troops Flee As Ukrainian Forces Reach Russian Border

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Ukrainian personnel have evidently reached the country’s border with Russia in at least one area north of Kharkiv, which is Ukraine’s second-largest city and has been targeted by Russian forces throughout the presently unfolding war. After previously stopping Russian troops from taking the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, those defending Ukraine have also been pushing invading forces substantially back from Kharkiv, liberating an array of smaller settlements that are in the area.

Sources for the revelations about Ukrainian personnel apparently reaching the Russian border north of Kharkiv include the Ukrainian defense ministry and Kharkiv-area Governor Oleh Synehubov. Although there’s obviously one side in this war (Ukraine) that’s astronomically more credible than the other side, Reuters “could not immediately verify Ukraine’s battlefield account and it was not clear how many troops had reached the Russian border and where,” Reuters said, although Ukrainian defense authorities shared a video clip that showed about a dozen Ukrainian troops at what Ukrainian leadership said was the border. According to Ukraine’s defense ministry, the 227th Battalion of the 127th Brigade of Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Forces reached the border. “We thank everyone who, risking their lives, liberates Ukraine from Russian invaders,” the area governor added.

According to Synehubov, Russians sought to force residents of the Ukrainian city of Izyum — which Putin’s forces currently occupy — into military service for Russia. Giving some perspective about the path ahead, Synehubov recently stated: “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.” Elsewhere, Sweden and Finland have now launched their respective processes of seeking membership in NATO, which would significantly add to the large military alliance that rests on commitments among its members to common defense. If one member country is attacked, other members have agreed to come to that country’s defense. While Sweden and Finland’s membership applications are pending with NATO, the U.S. and U.K. have agreed to provide security assistance to both of the countries, although these agreements are less comprehensive than the NATO alliance.

President Joe Biden has reiterated that he’s committed to the defense of NATO members’ territory, something Finland and Sweden can count on if they become members of the alliance. At this point, the Swedish application for membership in NATO has been signed, and the Finnish bid to join up with the alliance has been backed by an overwhelming majority in the country’s parliament, although that parliamentary support evidently was not legally required for the country’s application for membership. But in Finland’s 200-seat parliament, 188 members supported the ambition to join NATO, while just eight voted against it. For these two northern nations to join up with NATO would represent a substantial strategic setback for the Russian regime, which stands in stark opposition to NATO maneuvers — although there is no truth to the allegation raised by Putin that there were Western plans prior to the war in Ukraine to attack Russian territory.