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8 mins ago
Russian military leaves Kharkiv region 'temporarily', Russian-backed administration says
By Tim Lister
Russian-backed local authorities in the northern Kharkiv region have announced that the Russian army will "temporarily" leave the area.
The Civil-Military Administration of the Vovchansk district, through which many Russian supplies travel to the front, said in a short Telegram post: "The Russian army is leaving Volchansk‼️ [Vovchansk] temporarily. The population of the city continues evacuating".
The administration quoted a member of the Russian parliament, Evgeniy Evtushenko, as saying that the local headquarters would be moved across the border to the Russian city of Belgorod.
“In order to save the lives of civilians, the Russian Armed Forces have made the decision to leave our city.
[The] city administration will move to Belgorod.
Its branches will be in Kursk, Yakutsk, Vladivostok and St. Peter[s]burg until the situation in the city stabilizes,” Evtushenko said.
"The Russian armed forces will return control of all Russian lands in the Kharkiv region," he added.
Vovchansk has been an important link in the Russian military's supply chain since Belgorod, and remained under Russian control even as Ukrainian forces recaptured some territory north and east of the city of Kharkiv in May.
5 mins ago
Ukrainian forces enter the city of Izium
Firefighters work at the site of a residential building hit by a Russian military attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine, on September 6.
Ukrainian forces entered Izium after forcing Russian troops to withdraw, an official involved in the operation to liberate the strategic eastern city told CNN on Saturday.
Izium, which is located near the border between the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, had been under Russian occupation for more than five months and had become a major center for the invading armed forces.
“We just started to clear the city.
The first military units are inside," the officer told CNN.
A spokesman for the Bohun Brigade of the Ukrainian Ground Forces said in a statement on Saturday that "the Russians escaped and left behind weapons and ammunition. The city center is free."
Several videos of Ukrainian troops standing at the Izium sign at the entrance to the city were posted on Telegram.
Supposedly, part of the footage was shot by a reconnaissance unit of the 25th Ukrainian Parachute Brigade.
Over the video, a voice is heard saying: "We are in Izium. Everything will be Ukraine. Our flag is already here."
Earlier in the day, the head of the Russian-backed Izium city administration, Vladislav Sokolov, was quoted by the Russian state news agency RIA as saying the situation in Izium was "very difficult".
"As a result of constant shelling by Ukrainian troops over the last two weeks, there has been a lot of destruction in the city," Sokolov said.
It is not known exactly when Sokolov spoke with RIA.
Read more: Ukrainian forces enter Izium city after five months of Russian occupation, says Kyiv
war in ukraine