UKRAINIAN TROOPS WIN BACK SECOND CITY FROM RUSSIA
Embarrassing setback for ‘cancer-stricken’ Putin’s war
UKRAINE was celebrating last night as its soldiers beat back the Russians in Kharkiv.
The victory came as new rumours swirled that Vladimir Putin is fighting his own battle – with blood cancer.
After failing to capture the capital city of Kyiv, the tyrant’s forces beat a hasty retreat from the outskirts of the country’s second city in what is being seen as another embarrassing blow.
War analysts said Moscow is now on the defensive and being pushed back towards the Russian border.
Pictures on social media appeared to show the roads around Kharkiv littered with burnt-out Russian vehicles and ammunition.
It comes as an unnamed Russian oligarch made fresh claims about the health of the Russian president. In audio obtained by US magazine New Lines, the businessman can be heard saying Putin is “very ill with blood cancer”.
Kharkiv – a tech hub, nicknamed Ukraine’s Silicon Valley – was a key target for Putin. Hundreds of its citizens have been slain and its centre has been bombed to ruins.
But a staunch fightback left Russian troops suffering significant losses. Kharkiv mayor Ihor Terekhov told the
BBC: “Due to the efforts of Kharkiv territorial defence and Ukrainian Armed Forces, the Russians have withdrawn from the city in the direction of the Russian border. Now it is calm in Kharkiv and people are gradually coming back.”
Russia’s mission in the Donbas region is also stuttering.
An entire battalion was reportedly lost under Ukrainian rocket fire as troops tried to cross the Seversky Donets River. The UK’S Ministry of Defence said the risky crossing was a sign of “the pressure Russian commanders are under”.
Meanwhile, in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukrainian fighters still hold the Azovstal steel plant.
Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky said his people were doing the “maximum” to win the war but the outcome depended on help from allies. Moscow’s frustrations over the floundering invasion surfaced when a senior Putin aide threatened to use nuclear weapons.
Asked if Russia would move nuclear weapons to its border with Finland if the country joins NATO, Aleksey Zhuravlyov snapped: “What for? We don’t need to. We can hit with a Sarmat [nuclear missile] from Siberia and even reach the UK. And if we strike from Kaliningrad... the reaching time is 200 seconds. So, go ahead, guys.” Finland President Sauli Niinisto yesterday told Putin of his country’s plan to join NATO. Russian media reported that Putin told him it would be “a mistake”.