Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelenskiy spoke of “good news” on the battlefields of eastern Ukraine, saying his army had retaken some towns and villages from Russia as America’s top diplomat visited Kyiv with a big new military aid package.
In a late night address on Wednesday, President Zelenskiy said his forces had liberated some settlements in the Kharkiv region in a counter offensive. Some Western analysts suggested Kyiv may have retaken around 400 square kilometres (154 square miles) of territory after a deep thrust behind Russian lines.
“This week we have good news from Kharkiv Oblast. All of you have most likely seen reports about the recent activities of Ukrainian defenders. And I think every (Ukrainian) citizen feels proud of our warriors,” said Zelenskiy.
Kharkiv region borders Russia and its main city, Kharkiv, has for months been struck by Russian missiles after Moscow failed to take it in the early stages of its February 24 invasion.
In a sign that the situation in the area was still highly fluid though, Zelenskiy said it was too early to name the recaptured towns and villages while thanking three brigades for what he called their bravery.
A Russian official said Moscow’s forces had put up stiff resistance and prevented Kyiv’s forces from taking at least one key town.
Such a Ukrainian thrust, if confirmed and the gains are held, would be a significant boost for Kyiv, which is keen to show its Western backers that it can change the facts on the ground by force and deserves continued support.
There is additional pressure on Kyiv to demonstrate that before winter sets in, amid threats by Russian President Vladimir Putin to halt all energy shipments to Europe if Brussels goes ahead with a proposal to cap the price of Russian gas.
In a boost for Kyiv, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Ukraine on Thursday and was expected to announce $2 billion in new foreign military financing to Ukraine and 18 other countries at risk of future Russian aggression. Roughly half the money will go to Kyiv.
US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said earlier on Thursday that President Joe Biden had also approved an additional and separate $675 million in weapons to Ukraine as he and other defence ministers met in Germany to discuss how to continue supporting Ukraine in the long-term.
The latest announcements of military aid brings the total US security assistance to Ukraine to $15.2 billion since Biden took office in January 2021, a US official said.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based think tank, which follows the war day-by-day, said the Ukrainian military looked to have made significant progress on Wednesday.
“Ukrainian forces likely used tactical surprise to advance at least 20 km into Russian-held territory in (the) eastern Kharkiv Oblast (region) on September 7, recapturing approximately 400 square kilometres of ground,” the ISW said.
Russia has confirmed fighting in the area but has not confirmed any territorial losses, though unverified social media accounts run by Russian military experts have suggested Moscow did suffer setbacks and will need to urgently reinforce.
Ukrainian Presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych, in a video posted on YouTube, said Ukrainian troops had surprised Russian defenders at the town of Balakleiia.
“The Russians are saying that Balakleiia is encircled when in fact our troops have gone much further.”
Vitaly Ganchev, a local pro-Russian official, told Russian state TV that Russian forces had fought off a Ukrainian attempt to capture and encircle Balakleiia, which he said remained in Russian hands.
Reuters was unable to verify the battlefield accounts but Yuri Podolyak, a Ukrainian often quoted by pro-Russian officials, also said Russian troops were surprised by the Ukrainian advance.
“The enemy had considerable success near Balakleiia with a relatively small force … It would appear that Russian forces slept through this advance and were expecting it elsewhere,” he wrote on Telegram.
Ukraine has for weeks been talking about a big counter offensive in the south, which is also underway though details about it are sparse. Western military analysts believe Russia may have left itself exposed in other areas as it rushed to reinforce the south.
Heavy fighting was also reported on Thursday in areas near the Russian-held Zaporizhzhia nuclear power station in Ukraine after Kyiv warned it might have to shut down the plant to avoid disaster.
Putin said on Wednesday that Russia would not lose what he calls its “special military operation” in Ukraine, an exercise he has described as an attempt to preemptively protect his country’s security against an expanding NATO.
Asked about the war’s progress, Putin said: “We have not lost anything and will not lose anything.”
He also threatened to halt all energy supplies to Europe if Brussels adopted a proposed price cap on Russian gas, the latest Western step to deprive the Kremlin of funds to finance the war.
Europe usually imports about 40 per cent of its gas and 30 per cent of its oil from Russia.
The United States and France says Moscow is already using energy as a “weapon” to weaken Europe’s opposition to its invasion, with the main conduit for Russian gas into Europe, Nord Stream 1, shut for maintenance.
Russian gas giant Gazprom said on Wednesday that Russian natural gas deliveries to European Union countries have dropped by 48 per cent so far this year, with the decline totalling 49 per cent if the UK is included.
Putin denied using energy as a weapon.