Ucrânia reivindica vitória no nordeste do país

Kiev afirma ter derrotado tropas russas, que recuaram na região, mas batalha ainda segue forte no sul e no leste. O governo da Ucrânia anunciou nesta segunda-feira (16) que conseguiu expulsar tropas russas que atacavam no nordeste do país de volta a território russo e retomar o controle da região.
O Ministério da Defesa do país anunciou que um batalhão ucraniano conseguiu chegar até a fronteira da Rússia, fazendo com que tropas do país inimigo recuassem até lá.
Segundo o assessor do Ministério de Interior da Ucrânia, Vadym Denisenko, as tropas do país contra-atacaram os russos conseguiram expulsá-los da cidade de Kharkiv, uma das mais atacadas desde o início da invasão da Rússia à Ucrânia, em 24 de fevereiro.
Após a expulsão, os ucranianos forçaram o recuo das tropas russas até a fronteira entre os dois país, que fica a cerca de 30 quilômetros de Kharkiv.
“(O contra-ataque) não pode mais ser interrompido…Graças a isso, podemos ir atrás de outros grupos de forças russas”, afirmou Denisenko.
Moscou ainda não se posicionou sobre a reinvindicação da Ucrânia. O Kremlin vem focando seu discurso no ataque à adesão da Finlândia e Suécia à Organização do Tratado do Atlântico Norte (Otan), cujas candidaturas foram confirmadas no fim de semana.
“Agradecemos a todos que, arriscando suas vidas, libertaram a Ucrânia da invasão russa”, declarou nesta segunda-feira o governador da região de Kharkiv, Oleh Sinegubov.
Já na região do Donbass, no entanto, o governador local, Serhiy Gaidai, afirmou que a situação “segue difícil”, e as tropas russas tomaram o controle da cidade de Sieverodonetsk.
Já no sul do país, a batalha pela cidade de Kherson também continua forte. Em Mykolayiv, mísseis russos atingiram áreas residenciais nesta segunda-feira (16), segundo Kiev.
O secretário-geral da Otan, Jens Stoltenberg, afirmou no domingo (15) que a Ucrânia pode vencer a guerra, uma previsão que poucos líderes fizeram até agora.
In a blow for Russia, which has long opposed NATO expansion, Finland on Sunday confirmed it would apply to join the alliance.
Sweden’s ruling Social Democrats also backed NATO membership, paving the way for an application and abandoning decades of military nonalignment.
But Russia’s deputy foreign minister, Sergei Ryabkov, said on Monday that Finland and Sweden were making a mistake that would have far-reaching consequences.
“They should have no illusions that we will simply put up with it,” Ryabkov said, quoted by the Interfax news agency.
“The general level of military tension will rise, predictability in this sphere will decrease,” Ryabkov said.
NATO and the United States said they were confident both countries would be accepted into the alliance and that reservations from Turkey, which wants the Nordic countries to halt support for Kurdish militant groups present on their territory, could be overcome.
Moscow calls its invasion of Ukraine a “special military operation” to rid the country of fascists, an assertion Kyiv and its Western allies say is a baseless pretext for an unprovoked war.
Since mid-April, Russian forces have focused much of their firepower on trying to capture the Donbas. Moscow recognised the independence of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic and the Lugansk People’s Republic in the Donbas days before it launched its invasion.
British military intelligence said Russia had lost about a third of the ground combat force deployed in February, and its Donbas offensive had fallen “significantly behind schedule”.
FIGHTING AROUND IZIUM
The most intense fighting appeared to be around the eastern Russian-held city of Izium, where Russia said it had struck Ukrainian positions with missiles.
Russia continued to target civilian areas along the entire frontline in Luhansk and Donetsk, firing at 23 villages and towns, Ukraine’s military task force said.
Ukraine’s military also acknowledged setbacks, saying Russian forces “continue to advance” in several areas in the Donbas region.
There was also no letup on Sunday in Russia’s bombardment of the steelworks in the southern port of Mariupol, where a few hundred Ukrainian fighters are holding out weeks after the city fell into Russian hands, the Ukrainian military said.
Alexander Khodakovsky, a commander of separatist forces in Donetsk, said on his Telegram channel on Monday that 10 Ukrainian fighters emerged from a tunnel at the Azovstal steel plant holding white flags. Reuters could not verify the report.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said “very difficult and delicate negotiations” were going on to save Ukrainians in Mariupol and Azovstal.
Ukrainian troops received a morale boost from the country’s win in the Eurovision song contest at the weekend, with some saying it was a sign of battlefield victories to come.
“We have shown that we can not only fight, but we can also sing very nice,” said Vitaliy, a soldier bunkered down north of Kyiv.
(Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Stephen Coates and Angus MacSwan; Editing by Lincoln Feast and Nick Macfie)g1 > MundoRead More