“Izyum was liberated today,” Mayor Valeriy Marchenko said. He was not yet back in the city himself but claimed to be in touch with the Izyum police. And said that emergency services were working to “clear the area of possible hazards before residents could return.”
The city of Izyum, is key. Moscow had been using the area to launch new attacks on Ukrainian-controlled areas in the Donetsk region. Izyum was a major base for Russian forces in the Kharkiv region.
ISW reports significant numbers of Russian POWs are being transported out of the area. And estimates are that up to 20,000 Russian soldiers are stranded in the area.
Ukraine’s surprisingly quick advances prompted Russia to announce it was rushing reinforcements to Kharkiv. And Ukraine says it has control over the critical infrastructure of the area.
Russia’s Ministry of Defense confirmed Saturday that it had pulled its forces out of Izyum. In a statement, it presented the retreat as a preplanned effort. And said they intended to strengthen the Donetsk region.
