KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russia’s Defense Ministry says it’s pulling back forces from two areas in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region where a Ukrainian counteroffensive has made significant advances in the past week. A Defense Ministry spokesman says the troops will be regrouped from Balakliya and Izyum to the eastern Donetsk region. Izyum was a major base for Russian forces in the northeastern Kharkiv region. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy taunted Moscow over the withdrawal, saying its army was “demonstrating the best that it can do — showing its back.” Western officials and analysts say Ukraine has punched through the front lines south of the country’s second-largest city, taking large swaths of territory and threatening to cut off Russian supply lines.
Russia announces troop pullback from Ukraine’s Kharkiv area
