<div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">Moscow 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.</span><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">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.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">This could prove a pivotal moment in the six-month-old war, with thousands of Russian soldiers abandoning ammunition stockpiles and equipment as they fled.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Russian forces used Izyum as the logistics base for one of their main campaigns - a months-long assault from the north on the adjacent Donbas region comprising Donetsk and Luhansk.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The state-run TASS news agency quoted Russia’s defence ministry as saying it had ordered troops to leave the vicinity and reinforce operations elsewhere in neighbouring Donetsk.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The head of Russia’s administration in Kharkiv told residents to evacuate the province and flee to Russia to “save lives”, TASS reported. Witnesses described traffic jams of cars with people leaving Russian-held territory.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Russian army is claiming the title of fastest army in the world … keep running!” Yermak wrote on Twitter later.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Al Jazeera’s Gabriel Elizondo, reporting from Kyiv, said Izyum was “a key military strongpoint for the Russians for many months”.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“It took the Russians six weeks of fighting to get a hold of that city, and now it appears that the Ukrainians will have retaken it, in pretty much a 12-to-24-hour timeframe,” Elizondo said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“It gives you an idea of how the tide is certainly turning. Ukrainians clearly have the momentum in this battle right now in the northeast, as they continue to push the Russian forces back.”</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">The Russian withdrawal announcement came hours after Ukrainian troops entered the city of Kupiansk farther north, the sole railway hub supplying Russia’s entire front line across northeastern Ukraine.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ukrainian officials posted photos early on Saturday of their troops raising the country’s blue-and-yellow flag in front of Kupiansk’s city hall.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">That left thousands of Russian troops abruptly cut off from supplies along a front that has seen some of the most intense battles of the war.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">There were signs of trouble for Russia elsewhere along its remaining positions on the eastern front, with pro-Russian officials acknowledging difficulties at other locations.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Ukrainian armed forces are continuing to advance in different areas along the front, Zelenskyy said.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">Earlier on Saturday, German foreign minister Annalena Baerbock, who was visiting the Ukrainian capital, said Berlin would continue to support Ukraine in its fight against Russian forces.</div><div style="text-align: justify;"><br></div><div style="text-align: justify;">“I have travelled to Kyiv today to show that they can continue to rely on us. That we will continue to stand by Ukraine for as long as necessary with deliveries of weapons, and with humanitarian and financial support,” she said. Source: Aljazeera</div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;"><br></span></div><div style="text-align: justify; "><span style="font-size: 1rem;">bnbd24/kh</span><br></div>