KYIV: Ukraine said its forces had seized back all areas around Kyiv, claiming complete control of the capital region for the first time since Russia launched the invasion.
“The whole Kyiv region is liberated from the invader,” Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar wrote on Facebook. There was no Russian comment on the claim, which Reuters could not immediately verify.
Ukraine’s troops have retaken more than 30 towns and villages around Kyiv since Russia pulled back from the area this week, Ukrainian officials said.
As Russian troops regrouped for battles in east Ukraine, towns surrounding Kyiv bore scars of five weeks of fighting. Bodies lay scattered on streets, and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy accused Russian forces of leaving behind mines.
Hundreds dead in Bucha
At one recaptured town reached by Reuters, residents tearfully recalled brushes with death.
“The first time, I went out of the room and a bullet broke the glass, the window, and got stuck in the dresser,” said Mariya Zhelezova, 74, in the country town of Bucha. “The second time, shattered glass almost got into my leg.”
Bucha’s mayor, Anatoliy Fedoruk, said more than 300 residents had been killed.
“We don’t want them to come back,” Zhelezova said. “I had a dream today — that they left and didn’t come back.”
Ukraine’s armed forces reported diminished Russian air and missile strikes on Saturday but said retreating Russian forces were deploying mines.
(VOA)
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