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Russian intelligence officers and military commanders flee Crimea, Kyiv claims – as it happened

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Russian intelligence officers and military commanders in south ‘urgently resettling families’, Ukraine claims

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Tue 13 Sep 2022 18.09 EDTFirst published on Tue 13 Sep 2022 00.28 EDT
An abandoned Russian armoured personnel vehicle near a village on the outskirts of Izyum, Kharkiv.
An abandoned Russian armoured personnel vehicle near a village on the outskirts of Izyum, Kharkiv. Photograph: Juan Barreto/AFP/Getty Images
An abandoned Russian armoured personnel vehicle near a village on the outskirts of Izyum, Kharkiv. Photograph: Juan Barreto/AFP/Getty Images

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  • Since 6 September, Ukrainian forces have recaptured more than 300 settlements in the Kharkiv region, taking back more than 3,800 sq km (1,467 miles) of Russian occupied territory, said Hanna Maliar, Ukrainian deputy minister of defence. At least 150,000 Ukrainians had been living under Russian occupation in these areas for almost the entirety of the invasion. Maliar said that these were only the confirmed figures and that the real number of reoccupied territories in the Kharkiv region “is almost twice as much”.

  • While Ukraine celebrates the tremendous gains its military has made in its dramatic counter-offensive, officials remain stoic about the challenges ahead in the newly reoccupied territory. Lesia Vasylenko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament, spoke of discovering the beheaded bodies of Ukrainian military, human faeces everywhere, widespread looting and terrorised teenagers who were still too scared to leave their basements. “Liberation uncovers many crimes. It’s as if we are on the verge of hundreds, if not thousands Buchas, just of a smaller scale,” Vasylenko said, referencing the civilian mass graves and evidence of torture uncovered in Bucha when Ukrainian forces recaptured the Kyiv region. “But whatever the scale there will be tribunals, retribution and justice.”

  • Speaking of looting, the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces warned that Russian forces were continuing to loot as they withdrew from occupied territories. On a stretch of highway heading into Russian territory, Ukrainian officials spotted civilian vehicles with license plates from the Kharkiv region, driven by Russian military and weighed down with looted belongings. In the south, there were reports of Russian occupants breaking the gates of private garages and taking cars, as well as removing furniture.

  • Russian forces continued to hit a number of civilian and civilian infrastructure facilities today throughout the eastern and southern portions of Ukraine, the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said. Via air attacks and missile strikes and high mobility artillery rocket systems, Russian force attacked settlements in the Luhansk oblast and the Donetsk oblast in the east, and the Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv and Cherkasy oblasts in the south.

  • Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, has said he is concerned Russia could try to “stir the pot” in the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia in order to distract from Ukraine. He added that Russia could also use its influence in the region to help “calm the waters”.

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Dan Sabbagh
Dan Sabbagh

A western official said it was “too early to say” if Ukraine’s success in regaining 6,000 sq km of territory in the Kharkiv region represented “a turning point” in the more than six-month-long war, playing down the significance of Kyiv’s recapture of Izium and Kupiansk.

Nevertheless it was, the official acknowledged, “a moment that has power” and they confirmed that the amount of territory gained by Ukraine in the past week amounted to “half the size of Wales”. The official was speaking on condition of anonymity.

Ukraine had succeeded in surprising Russia with its attack on the lightly defended Kharkiv region, partly by first attacking in the Kherson territory in the south of the country, diverting Moscow’s forces and attention.

“In marked contrast to Russia, Ukraine has demonstrated impressive operational art and an adherence to the core principles of war. From late July, it (Ukraine) has presented multiple threats which led to Russia repositioning forces thereby creating areas of weakness. Ukraine then concentrated forces against that weakness,” the official said.

The military development was “in strict military terms a withdrawal ordered and sanctioned by (Russia’s) general staff, the official added, but the professionalism displayed by retreating units varied considerably from orderly withdrawal to “apparent panic” abandoning “a significant quantity of operational vehicles, weapons and ammunition”.

Russia was attempting to create a new frontline in the Oskil river, and the result of last week’s battle was painted partly as an attempt by Moscow to rationalise its long frontlines to protect its territory in the Donbas and the land bridge to Crimea.

But there was praise for Ukraine’s “innovative and experimental” military strategy as compared to Russia, whose commanders were at times referring decisions to the Kremlin. “Moscow is operating with a long screwdriver,” the official added.

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Beheaded bodies of Ukrainian military, human faeces, terrorised teenagers too scared to leave their basement: this is just some of what Russian forces left behind when Ukrainian troops recaptured large swathes of the Kharkiv region, according to Lesia Vasylenko, a member of the Ukrainian parliament.

At least 150,000 Ukrainians were living under Russian occupation for almost the entirety of the invasion. Since 6 September, Ukrainian forces have recaptured more than 300 settlements in the Kharkiv region, taking back more than 3,800 sq km (1,467 miles) of Russian occupied territory.

“Liberation uncovers many crimes. It’s as if we are on the verge of hundreds, if not thousands Buchas, just of a smaller scale,” Vasylenko said, referencing the civilian mass graves and evidence of torture uncovered in Bucha when Ukrainian forces recaptured the Kyiv region. “But whatever the scale there will be tribunals, retribution and justice.”

At least 150K Ukrainians liberated in over 300 towns and villages. Almost 4000 sq km of regained land. Brief smiles, strong embraces and so much uncovered pain. What #Russia leaves behind THREAD 🧵/1

— Lesia Vasylenko (@lesiavasylenko) September 13, 2022

Beheaded bodies of #Ukraine military. Shot and tortured civilians. The numbers will be coming in and investigations will follow /2

— Lesia Vasylenko (@lesiavasylenko) September 13, 2022

Looted homes. #Russia military take everything, even underwear. And at the same time they leave their weapons behind 🤦‍♀️ /3

— Lesia Vasylenko (@lesiavasylenko) September 13, 2022

Complete antisanitary mess, in houses, churches, on the streets. It’s as if toilets are unknown to Russians. Human feces everywhere /4

— Lesia Vasylenko (@lesiavasylenko) September 13, 2022

Terrorized people. Teenagers afraid to come out from basements. Family looking for loved ones who were taken away never to be seen again. /5

— Lesia Vasylenko (@lesiavasylenko) September 13, 2022

Liberation uncovers many crimes. It’s as if we are on the verge of hundreds, if not thousands Buchas, just of a smaller scale. But whatever the scale there will be tribunals, retribution and Justice. / END

— Lesia Vasylenko (@lesiavasylenko) September 13, 2022
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Information is trickling out now from the towns and villages that Ukrainian forces have recaptured – many of these areas have been under Russian occupation for almost the entirety of the invasion. Residents in these areas are now describing the horror of what life was like during those long months.

One woman told a reporter: “It was just cruel when the Russians came. Neighbours betrayed each other. Many probably thought that the Russian soldiers would stay forever.”

“Now it’s like seven months ago, only the other way around: neighbours tell each other who was particularly friendly to the Russians,” she said. “I just want peace again.”

After the embraces and the tears of gratitude,people in liberated villages start talking. Truth comes out about the lies #Russia told about #Ukraine: Zelenski fled, Kyiv capitulated, 🇺🇦 army will execute all who lived under occupation. It took strength not to believe,not to doubt

— Lesia Vasylenko (@lesiavasylenko) September 13, 2022

What is immediately noticeable in the streets of the liberated areas around Kharkiv region: very many old people, many women, hardly any young men.
What happened to them if they did not flee the Russian invasion or go to the front?
Many are considered "missing". pic.twitter.com/CNFSOkgVna

— Paul Ronzheimer (@ronzheimer) September 13, 2022

Victor (72) from Balalkiya told us that his car was shot at by Russian soldiers. "It must have been snipers." Weeks before, he had been locked up for more than 2 weeks. "I don't know why, but I asked the Russians: why are you afraid of an old man?" @BILD pic.twitter.com/IgHwjVsUHH

— Paul Ronzheimer (@ronzheimer) September 13, 2022

On the outskirts of Balakliya, the bodies of two civilians shot and killed in the last hours of the Russian occupation here have been exhumed as part of a Ukrainian investigation into apparent war crimes pic.twitter.com/PexgIyirmN

— Mark MacKinnon (@markmackinnon) September 13, 2022
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Russian forces have continued looting as Ukrainian troops push them further east, the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said in today’s daily briefing.

Officials said that on a section of the highway running north and south between Starobilsk and Luhansk, they spotted about 300 civilian vehicles, mostly with the state license plates of the Kharkiv region, heading in the direction of Luhansk. Most of these vehicles had “trailers loaded with looted property” and were being driven by Russian military.

In Polohy, a city in the Zaporizhzhia region in the south of the country, “Russian occupants break the gates of private garages, take private cars from locals,” the general staff said. Meanwhile in the Kherson region, the general staff said similar behaviour was noted in the removal of “furniture and household appliances from temporarily abandoned homes”.

Russian forces hit a number of civilian infrastructure facilities today throughout the eastern and southern regions of Ukraine, the general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said.

Using air attacks and missile strikes and high mobility artillery rocket systems, Russian force attacked settlements in the Luhansk oblast and the Donetsk oblast in the east, and the Dnipropetrovsk, Mykolaiv and Cherkasy oblasts in the south.

“More than 25 settlements suffered artillery shelling,” the general staff said in its daily briefing. “In addition, the enemy intensified air reconnaissance.”

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Ukraine: troops have recaptured more than 300 settlements in Kharkiv region

Since 6 September, Ukrainian forces have recaptured more than 300 settlements in the Kharkiv region, taking back more than 3,800 square kilometres (1,467 miles) of Russian occupied territory, said Hanna Maliar, Ukrainian deputy minister of defence.

"More than 150,000 of our people have been liberated from (Russian) occupation, during which they were, in fact, hostages," Maliar said.

— The Kyiv Independent (@KyivIndependent) September 13, 2022

Maliar said that these were only the confirmed figures and that the real number of reoccupied territories in the Kharkiv region “is almost twice as much”.

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Balakliya was one of the more than 20 towns and villages recaptured by the Ukrainian forces in the Kharkiv oblast over the past few days. Here is a look at some of the devastation left behind after the Russian troops withdrew:

A view of the damaged school due to airstrike as Russia-Ukraine war continues in Balakliya, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine on September 13, 2022. Russian forces withdrew from the Balakliya. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
A view of the damaged school due to airstrike as Russia-Ukraine war continues in Balakliya, Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine on September 13, 2022. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
A woman cries as residents work to heal their wounds in Balakliya after Russian forces withdrew as the Russia-Ukraine war continues. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images
Bullet holes marked a wall Balakliya in Kharkiv oblast, Ukraine on September 13, 2022. Photograph: Anadolu Agency/Getty Images

US concerned Russia could 'stir the pot' in Azerbaijan-Armenia conflict

Antony Blinken, the US secretary of state, has said he is concerned Russia could try to “stir the pot” in the conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia in order to distract from Ukraine.

Blinken has called for “an end to any military hostilities immediately” after fighting broke out near the two countries’ border in the worst escalation of hostilities since the 2020 war.

“Whether Russia tries in some fashion to stir the pot, to create a distraction from Ukraine, is something we’re always concerned about,” Blinken told Reuters at an event in Indiana. He added that Russia could also use its influence in the region to help “calm the waters”.

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