Ukraine recaptures more ground as Russia strikes back

Ukraine said Monday that its forces regained yet more ground in the past 24 hours and retook an area seven times the size of Kiev this month, as Russia responded with strikes on some recaptured areas.

The territorial shifts marked one of Russia's biggest reversals since its troops were turned back from Kiev in the earliest days of the nearly seven months of fighting, yet Moscow signalled it was no closer to agreeing to a negotiated peace.

The retreat of Russian troops in recent days has drawn weeping and relieved locals into bomb-cratered streets, including on Sunday in the strategic but heavily damaged town of Izyum.

"It's not enough to say I'm happy. I just don't have enough words to express myself," said Yuriy Kurochka, 64.
Yet by Monday Moscow had announced air, rocket and artillery attacks on reclaimed areas in the Kharkiv region, a day after Kiev said Russian strikes on electricity infrastructure caused power failures.

The retaliatory fire came as Ukraine said forces had retaken more than 20 additional settlements, claiming "Russian troops are hastily abandoning their positions and fleeing".

Kiev had already announced the recapture of Izyum in the country's east, while President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday that Ukraine's forces retook a total of 6,000 square kilometres (2,320 square miles) from Russian control in September.

"Ukraine has turned the tide in its favour, but the current counter-offensive will not end the war," US think tank Institute for the Study of War tweeted.

Defence Minister Oleksii Reznikov told French daily Le Monde, in an interview published Monday, the war has entered a new phase with the help of Western weapons.

Moscow conceded having lost territory -- which experts saw...