►Kiev takes over the strategic city of Izium
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said his army had retaken the strategic town of Izium in eastern Ukraine from the Russians. Ukraine claimed throughout the weekend new military successes against the Russian army in the eastern and southern parts of its territory.
Moscow has admitted that it has lost ground. According to military experts, the loss of Izium by Moscow risks seriously curbing its military ambitions in eastern Ukraine.
“As a result of the successful counter-offensive of our troops in the Kharkiv region, Russian troops are rapidly abandoning their positions and fleeing”notably “to Russia”commented the Ukrainian staff in the evening, before the announcement of the takeover of Izioum by Volodymyr Zelensky.
“A large part of the Chuhouyiv, Kupyansk and Balaklya districts have been liberated. Today, we can say that about forty localities have already been liberated, but there are many more”, added the governor of Kharkiv, Oleg Sinegoubov. The day before, kyiv said its forces had entered Kupyansk, which is on supply routes for Russian troops.
In the South, in the Kherson region, “the occupiers also withdrew from their positions in several localities”, also announced Sunday the Ukrainian army. According to the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the Ukrainians resumed in five days “more territory than the Russians have conquered in all their operations since April”.
►Kiev accuses Moscow of hitting the power grid in retaliation for its military setbacks.
In the evening, eastern Ukraine suffered extensive power cuts, blamed on “Russian Terrorists” by Volodymyr Zelensky. “The goal is to deprive people of light and heating”he added.
Authorities in the Sumy, Dnipropetrovsk and Poltava regions then quickly announced that power had been fully restored. Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said the attacks were “an act of desperation after Russia’s immense losses and its retreat into eastern Ukraine”.
► Ukraine: the Western defense industry mobilized in turn
Westerners, who have been drawing on their arsenals for six months to help Ukraine repel Russian forces, are now mobilizing their defense industries to replenish their arms stocks and continue to support kyiv.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin this week announced a special meeting of the Armaments Directors of Ukraine’s Defense Contact Group, which includes nearly 50 countries. The EU had planned in July European funding of 500 million euros over two years to facilitate joint purchases of armaments.