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A Ukrainian soldier in front of a burned-out Russian tank in Balaklija in the east of the country
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Uncredited / dpa
More than 20 towns in the south and east – this is the balance sheet of the recaptures of the Ukrainian armed forces.
Mind you within 24 hours.
There are reports of Russian soldiers who "cursed out" of their positions.
According to the Russian governor of the Kharkiv region Vitaly Ganchev, Ukrainian troops broke through to the border.
The border crossing to the Russian Belgorod is now closed, said Gantschew.
According to this, more than 5,000 people crossed it after the evacuation announced on Saturday.
Supposedly civilians.
In view of the Ukrainian successes and the reports that went with them, it is not unthinkable that they were also Russian soldiers.
What has happened in the past few hours
In response to the counter-offensive, there were Russian airstrikes on critical infrastructure in Kharkiv Oblast.
There have been repeated power outages in the city of Kharkiv since Sunday, including again on Monday after the power supply had actually been restored.
The water supply also collapsed again on Monday.
The Russian attacks on Kharkiv also resulted in at least one fatality.
According to the Interfax news agency, Kharkiv's mayor Igor Terekjow reported further attacks on residential areas in the evening.
According to the Russian military, they also fired at the strategically important cities of Kupjansk and Izyum, which Russia said it had lost over the weekend.
Success reports came regularly from Kyiv at the weekend.
1,000 square kilometers had been taken, it said, first, then 2,000 square kilometers, then 3,000 square kilometers - especially in the Kharkiv region.
The collapse of the Russian front line pushed Ukrainian forces deep into previously enemy-held territory.
Officials in the Kremlin are likely to be further concerned about the situation in Kherson.
A spokeswoman for the Ukrainian army's southern command said on Monday that around 500 square kilometers had been liberated.
Several towns are again “completely under the Ukrainian flag”.
You can follow all the important developments of the day on the Ukraine war here.
What has been forgotten in view of the past few days: the Ukrainian army originally announced a counter-offensive for the south around Cherson at the beginning of September.
Then, last week, there was an offensive in the north-east around Kharkiv, which probably surprised and overwhelmed Moscow and its troops in equal measure.
What are the reactions?
The voices from the Kremlin suggest just how bad the situation for the Russian troops is: Dmitri Peskov, spokesman for Kremlin chief Vladimir Putin, declared that the Russian offensive (if you still want to call it that today) will continue »until their goals have been achieved.
There is currently “no prospect of negotiations”.
Apart from the fact that Kyiv itself rejects negotiations, the criticism within Russia seems so great that Peskov apparently saw the continuation of the so-called "special action" in Moscow in question.
Criticism has been growing around the Kremlin since the reports from Kharkiv.
However, not because of the war itself, but because of the cutting off of their own troops.
According to media reports, MPs from 18 Russian districts in Moscow, Saint Petersburg and Kolpino petitioned for Putin's resignation.
The head of the Kremlin is harming "the future of Russia and its citizens," as Radio Free Europe reports.
The mood in the otherwise pro-Kremlin state media was not as good as it was at the beginning of the war.
According to the Reuters news agency, there were also critical voices on talk shows and in newspapers.
The "Nezavisimaya Gazeta" wrote, for example, that the Ministry of Defense had not commented on the "extremely disturbing news from Ukraine" for several days.
What is the situation at the Zaporizhia nuclear plant?
Not only in Kharkov there were problems with the electricity and water supply on Monday.
Corresponding reports also came from other oblasts such as Donetsk or Zaporizhia.
The power supply is essential, especially for the latter region, which gives its name to the nuclear power plant located in Enerhodar, as it is indispensable for cooling the reactor cores and the nuclear waste.
The head of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Rafael Grossi, called for an end to the fighting in Enerhodar.
There must be an easy-to-implement security zone around the power plant site, said Grossi, and it must be agreed that the nuclear power plant and the surrounding area will no longer be shot at.
Grossi did not include the withdrawal of Russian troops demanded by the Ukrainian side in his demand – for obvious reasons: he wants a quick solution that Kiev
and
Moscow will support.
But the Kremlin would never agree to a ceasefire if Grossi were to demand its withdrawal.
And Germany?
Monday's war report also includes the ongoing discussion about western arms deliveries.
In a keynote speech, Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht (SPD) said how important it was to strengthen the Bundeswehr.
But tanks for the army should still not be available.
Lambrecht pushed the question of deliveries of heavy weapons to the United States further, Germany should not go it alone, it had been agreed with the partners.
The CDU defense expert Roderich Kiesewetter criticized Lambrecht and the federal government for this attitude.
"The defense minister's keynote speech reveals one thing above all: the rejection of any responsibility and leadership in Europe," he told SPIEGEL.
He accused the federal government of a blockade attitude.
On Saturday, for example, Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba called for battle tanks again at a press conference with Annalena Baerbock in order, among other things, to liberate more areas.
hba/Reuters/AFP/dpa