‘Substantial victory’ for Kyiv acknowledged on Russian TV after Ukrainian breakthrough
- Analysts say Ukrainians are within striking distance of railway Moscow relies on to sustain force in the east, and could leave thousands of Russian troops cut off
- ‘The very fact of a breach of our defences is already a substantial victory for the Ukrainian armed forces,’ pro-Russian official Vitaly Ganchev said on state TV
Russian state television broadcast an interview on Friday acknowledging that Kyiv had achieved a “substantial victory”, after Ukrainian forces burst through the frontline in a lightning advance.
The Ukrainian breakthrough near Kharkiv was the fastest advance reported by either side for months, and one of the biggest shifts in the war’s momentum since Russian forces abandoned a disastrous assault on the capital Kyiv in March.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said troops had “liberated dozens of settlements” and reclaimed more than 1,000 sq km (385 square miles) of territory in Kharkiv region in the east as well as Kherson in the south in the past week.
Western military analysts say the advance puts the Ukrainians within striking distance of the main railway Moscow has relied on to sustain its force in eastern Ukraine, and could leave thousands of Russian troops at risk of being cut off.
After a day of providing little or no response, Russia’s defence ministry released video of its troops being rushed to reinforce the area.
“The very fact of a breach of our defences is already a substantial victory for the Ukrainian armed forces,” Russian state TV showed the head of the Russian-installed occupation administration for Kharkiv province, Vitaly Ganchev, saying in an interview. Russian law bans all reporting of the conflict that diverges from official accounts.