Ukraine Recaptures Two Towns As Russian Troops Retreat – Last week, we reported that Russian troops were shifting their focus away from capturing the Ukrainian capital city Kyiv and focusing resources on “liberating” the pro-Russian region of Donbas in the East. On Monday, Ukrainian troops not only recaptured the Irpin suburb of Kyiv in the West, but also the town of Trostyanets in the North East.
Troops Recapture Irpin
The Mayor of Irpin, a suburb of Kyiv, confirmed on Monday that the suburb had been liberated from Russian control.
“Today Irpin is liberated. Now the sweep is underway. I want to thank the servicemen of the [Ukraine Armed Forces], thank the territorial defense, thank the national police and special police units, the main intelligence department,” Mayor Oleksandr Markushin said.
Controlling Irpin was essential for Russian forces if they intended to capture Kyiv, as it is on the Western side of the Irpin river that troops will need to cross if they intend to approach the capital city from the West.
U.S. Officials Confirm Ukraine Recaptures Trosyanets
A United States official told ABC that Ukrainian forces successfully took control of the town of Trostyanets in north-eastern Ukraine on Monday and that Ukrainian forces “continue to make progress.”
The official also said that Russian forces in the area have remained in a defensive posture but are not advancing on the area and Ukrainian troops “are continuing to take back ground.”
When asked why Russian troops were repositioning and focusing on the East, the official said that U.S. intelligence is “not exactly sure what’s behind this reprioritization.”
Russian troops did not leave the area without causing substantial damage and reportedly also tortured a man to death in the area.
“Russian occupiers torture a man to death in Trostyanets, Sumy Oblast,” the Kyiv Independent reports.
A senior U.S. defense official also told Fox that Russian military pilots are also showing “risk-averse behavior” and that whenever Russian pilots enter Ukrainian air space they do so for a very short period of time.
“Most of the cruise missile strikes that they’re launching are coming from inside Russian or below Russian airspace,” the official said. “I mean, it’s remarkable what the Ukrainians have been able to do with the air defense systems that they have available to them. And that’s why we’re going to have to try to replenish them as best we can. ”
The independent Ukrainian news outlet said that the country’s Prosecutor General’s Office confirmed that the Ukrainian military discovered the body of an unidentified man who had been mutilated in a garage on Monday.
Recapturing Trostyanets is a major victory for Ukraine. It means that the resupply road between the regional capital of Sumy to Poltova could be reopened.
Jack Buckby is a British author, counter-extremism researcher, and journalist based in New York. Reporting on the U.K., Europe, and the U.S., he works to analyze and understand left-wing and right-wing radicalization, and reports on Western governments’ approaches to the pressing issues of today. His books and research papers explore these themes and propose pragmatic solutions to our increasingly polarized society.
