Kharkiv holds victory gig

UKRAINE last night praised its army for ‘expelling’ Russian invaders from the city of Kharkiv.

In a further setback to Vladimir Putin, officials said the Russian president’s forces were withdrawing from the northeastern city to focus on defending supply routes to the embattled Donbas region.

Heralding victory in the battle for Kharkiv, mayor Ihor Terekhov told the BBC that, ‘due to the efforts of the Kharkiv territorial defence and Ukrainian armed forces, the Russians have now withdrawn far from the city – towards the border’.

A sign of a return to some normality came as a concert entitled The Music Of The Resistance was held at a Kharkiv art gallery. Performers included Svyatoslav Vakarchuk – a former Ukrainian MP and the singer of the rock band Okean Elzy.