Ukraine reclaims key territory.

Ukrainian forces continued to push north in the Kharkiv region and south and east, according to Ukraine’s Army chief on Sunday, a day after their rapid gains forced Russia to abandon its main bastion in the area.

President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed Ukraine’s advance in northeast Kharkiv province as a potential breakthrough in the six-month-old war, saying that if Kyiv can obtain more powerful weapons, this winter could bring more rapid gains in territory.

“We began to advance not only to the south and east but also to the north in the Kharkiv direction.” “The state border (with Russia) is 50 kilometers away,” Ukraine’s chief commander, General Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, said on Telegram.

He claimed that since the beginning of this month, the country’s armed forces had reclaimed control of more than 3,000 square kilometers.

The Russian Defense Ministry announced on Sunday in Moscow that Russian forces were targeting Ukrainian Army positions in the Kharkiv region with precision strikes delivered by airborne troops, missiles, and artillery.

The retreat from Izium marked Russian forces’ worst defeat since being pushed back from Kyiv’s capital in March, as thousands of Russian soldiers fled, leaving behind ammunition and equipment.

The gains are politically significant for Mr. Zelensky, who is trying to keep Europe united behind Ukraine by supplying weapons and money, even as an energy crisis looms this winter due to Russian gas supply cuts to European customers.

“I believe this winter will be a watershed moment in Ukraine’s history,” Mr. Zelensky said in comments to a political forum on his website late Saturday. “We can see how they (occupants) flee in various directions.” We could de-occupy faster if we were a little stronger with weapons.”