Drone footage shot by a Ukrainian soldier released on Thursday (September 8) showed Ukrainian military personnel and ‘Z’ marked vehicles in Balakliia.
After days of making no reference at all to the retreat, Russia’s ministry of defence acknowledged on Saturday (September 10) that it had abandoned Izium and neighbouring Balakliia, in what it called a pre-planned “regrouping” to fight in Donetsk.
Reuters was able to match the buildings and roads with the location seen in the drone video with file and satellite images.
Ukraine’s swiftest advance since driving Russian forces away from the capital in March has turned the tide in the six-month war, unravelling in a matter of days swathes of the gains Moscow had achieved in months of costly fighting in the east.
(Reuters)
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