Russia has Withdrawn from Ukraine’s Kharkiv Region

Ukraine announced the recapture of more than 20 settlements in Kharkiv and Donetsk regions within 24 hours.

It comes a day after Russia confirmed it was withdrawing from the area, though it explained that its actions were related to the "implementation of the special military operation" (as Moscow calls the war in Ukraine, which today entered its 201st day).

Check our extensive coverage of the 201st day here.

Kharkiv also reported the restoration of electricity in affected parts of Kharkiv region after a Russian counteroffensive left it without power. The mayor of the city - Ukraine's second largest - spoke of restored water supply and the operation of the subway and ground electric transport, also affected by the shelling.

Russian strikes also affected, according to Kyiv, power supply in parts of Zaporizhzhia, Dnipropetrovsk and Sumy regions, as well as in all of Donetsk. In some of these areas, supplies have already been restored.

"Russia has likely ordered the withdrawal of its forces from all of the occupied parts of Kharkiv Oblast west of the Oskil River," said a morning briefing by British military intelligence posted on Twitter.

According to the Institute for the Study of War, Ukraine regained more territory in September than Russia has seized since April. And this Washington-based think tank analyzed Russia's announcement of the redeployment of forces over the weekend as confirmation of a withdrawal from settlements around Kharkiv, including on the west bank of the Oskil River, the largest confluent of the Seversky Donets River, passing through the eastern part of the district.

According to the UNIAN agency, the Hoptovka border crossing in the northern part of the Kharkiv...