Ukraine focuses on Donbass liberation: "Luhansk is right next door"
Created: 09/20/2022, 19:34
By: Nadja Austel
Advancing along the Oskil River, Ukrainian troops are now threatening Russian forces in Donbass - Russia's most valuable occupied territory.
Kyiv - According to the Ukrainian military, the country's troops have crossed the strategically important Oskil River and are preparing an offensive against the occupying Russian forces in eastern Donbass - a region Moscow had promised to conquer.
The crossing of the Oskil is another milestone in the Ukrainian counter-offensive in the north-eastern Kharkiv region.
The river flows into the Siverskyi Donets in the south, which meanders through the Donbass.
The latter is at the heart of the Russian invasion.
Beyond lies Luhansk province, which has served as a base for Russian separatists since 2014 and has been in full Russian hands since July after some of the bloodiest fighting of the war.
Kiev's troops have "entered across the Oskil" and Ukraine has been in control of the east bank since Sunday, the Ukrainian military announced on Telegram on Monday (September 19).
Serhiy Serhiy Haidai, governor of Luhansk, also wrote on Telegram: “Luhansk region is right next door.
Liberation is not far away.”
Ukraine War: Defeat for Russia - neither Kyiv nor Kharkiv conquered
Earlier this month, Ukrainian troops broke through the front line in the Kharkiv region and routed Russian troops, leaving their tanks and ammunition behind.
The Russian retreat was Moscow's biggest defeat since it withdrew its troops from the area around the capital, Kyiv.
There, an attempt to take the city in the early stages of the invasion failed in April.
According to Aljazeera
's report, the setback has led to
renewed discussion among the Kremlin's nationalist critics.
Among these, one wonders why Moscow failed to weaken Ukraine early in the invasion by attacking the country's nuclear power plants.
The Ukrainian army is advancing ever further into the Russian-occupied territories.
(Iconic photo) © Miguel Medina / AFP
War in Ukraine makes Kremlin weak: "Regrouping" instead of "withdrawal" of troops
Since being evicted from Kharkiv, Ukraine has said Russia has repeatedly shelled power plants, water infrastructure and other civilian facilities in what Ukraine sees as retaliation for battlefield defeats.
However, Moscow denies intentionally targeting civilians and critical infrastructure.
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Russia's rapid losses in recent weeks have rattled the Kremlin's public relations campaign, which has never backed down from claims that the "special military operation" is going "according to plan."
Officially, Russia merely announced that it was withdrawing some troops from the Kharkiv region to be regrouped elsewhere.
But the losses are openly admitted even by commentators on state television.
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Ukraine war: Putin could still grin
Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, announced that he would continue his campaign against Ukraine and warned of a "more serious" military response to Ukraine's "terrorist acts".
At a summit last week, Putin downplayed Ukraine's move, according to Aljazeera.
"The Kiev authorities have announced that they have launched and are carrying out an active counter-offensive," he said with a grin, and further: "Let's see how it turns out."
