Putin under fire as Russian forces retreat from Kharkiv

Russian forces have been ordered to retreat from advancing Ukrainian troops in Kharkiv to focus instead on defending their position in the eastern Donbas region, according to Western intelligence sources.

- JON STONE DAVID HARDING

Vladimir Putin's generals are expected to cede an area nearly half the size of Wales before setting up a new defensive line to the east of the Oskil river, according to intelligence.

Ukrainian forces have reclaimed more than 2,000 square miles of territory as they continue their counteroffensive, the country’s president Volodymyr Zelensky said yesterday, regaining key locations in the Kharkiv region. He has urged the West to speed up arms supplies to maintain the momentum of its offensives.

Some Russian units fled their positions in “apparent panic” leaving behind a “significant quantity” of weapons, vehicles and ammunition as they retreated, Western officials, said yesterday.

State-of-the-art counterbattery radar systems are among the equipment Ukrainian troops have come across as they make surprise gains in the Kharkiv region. Russian forces are not expected to try to retake the land around Kharkiv and “are likely in the process of withdrawing from the whole of occupied northern Kharkiv Oblast, an area of up to 10,000 square km or approaching half the size of Wales”, one official said.