Ukraine’s Prime Minister Denys Shmyhal said that Ukraine is building new fortifications on recently liberated territories to prevent their recapture by Russian forces.
This comes a few hours after Ukrainian Army liberated the strategic town of Izyum. The city is considered as a key logistics hub for Russian military operations in Donetsk and the entire Donbas region.
It should be noted that the city of Izyum was a battle ground for several weeks, but Ukraine has recaptured it in a flash.
Ukraine also liberated Balakleya, Balakliya, Kupiansk and other towns in the Kharkiv oblast.
President Zelensky announced on Thursday that the Ukrainian forces had retaken 1,000 square kilometres of land from the Russian occupiers. The amount of land that has been recaptured has since risen to 6,000 square kilometres in a major counteroffensive of Kharkiv.
Although the size of land that has been recaptured has not been verified independently, video evidence shows that the Ukrainian armed forces have reached the border with Russia north of Kharkiv.
A statement made by Ukraine’s State Border Guard Service on Monday confirms that Ukrainian military personnel have raised Ukraine flag at a border town.
The armed forces of Ukraine have also raised Ukrainian flags in several towns in the North East, where residents came out to greet them with joy in several villages.
BBC has reported earlier today that Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the East has reached the outskirts of Lyman, where intense fighting is ongoing.
If Ukraine wins the battle of Lyman, the Ukrainian Armed Forces are likely to advance towards the cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, which took the invaders months to concur.
However, the resistance experienced at Lyman clearly shows that the Russians are not giving up easily, and they might re-launch an attack on the recently liberated towns.
In fact, Moscow calls the recent events a “regrouping” effort by the Russian military rather than a loss in the battlefield.
Russian officials said on Monday that it was pressing on until all its original goals have been achieved. President Putin was also captured on Camera recently saying that Russia had lost nothing in combat.
Therefore, Ukraine might have just made a successful counterattack, but danger still looms. To secure its wins, the Army has now moved to fortify the recaptured towns.
Considering the loss of armour, personnel and morale, the Russian Forces are unlikely to succeed in any new attacks. Unless Putin escalates the war campaign, he seems to be losing the supposed “demilitarization” operation.