LIVE UPDATES: Russian forces retreat from key towns in Ukraine’s northeast

Russia has abandoned its main bastion in northeastern Ukraine, in a sudden collapse of one of the war’s principal front lines after Ukrainian forces made a rapid advance.
The swift fall of Izyum in Kharkiv province on Saturday was Moscow’s worst defeat since its troops were forced back from the capital, Kyiv, in March.

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Russia’s front line troops have fled their positions in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region as Ukrainian soldiers on Saturday forged ahead with a blitzkrieg to liberate occupied territories.

Over the past days, Ukrainian troops have made unexpectedly rapid gains in a counteroffensive to the east of the city of Kharkiv, attacking key strategic towns such as Balakliia, Kupiansk and Izyum, which are vital to supply and logistics for Russian forces based in the eastern Donbas region. After several weeks in which the conflict appeared to be heading for a stalemate over winter, the NATO-armed Ukrainians are now seeking to seize the momentum, with a two-pronged attack in Kharkiv to the east and Kherson to the south.

Russia’s defense ministry sought to put a brave face on the Ukrainian successes in Kharkiv and suggested the Russian retreat conformed with the goals of President Vladimir Putin’s notorious “special military operation.”