Ukraine confirmed the recovery of the entire Kiev region

Ukrainian forces regained control of “the entire Kiev region” following the withdrawal of Russian forces from strategic cities near the capital, Ukrainian Deputy Minister of Defense Ganna Maliar announced Saturday.

The towns of “Irpin, Bucha, Gostomel and the entire Kiev region were freed from the invader,” Maliar said on Facebook.

In addition, presidential spokesman Oleksii Arestovich reported on Saturday that military forces recovered more than thirty populations in the region surrounding Kiev.

Indeed, in the center of Kiev today there was some tranquility, although anti-aircraft alarms sounded a couple of times in the afternoon, with more people walking along the street and more cafeterias open, without the military presence having diminished or the numerous barricades removed.

“Let us have no illusions. There is still intense fighting in the south, over Mariupol, in eastern Ukraine,” explained the spokesman. In addition, Arestovich stressed that Ukrainian troops are being able to maintain the front line in the east of the country.

Russian forces have also withdrawn from Antonov airport in Gostomel, where they had been barricaded for several weeks, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense reported.

These Ukrainian advances would be in line with Moscow's statement that it would desist from its offensive in the Kiev and Chernigov region to concentrate on the east of the country.

Meanwhile, Russian troops continued on Saturday to advance in the Donbas, in eastern Ukraine, where the Ukrainian Army is resisting attacks by Russian artillery and aviation, whose objective is to conquer the entire territory of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions, while Kiev manages to breathe calmly after more than a month of siege.

“Russian forces are concentrating in Donbas, towards Kharkiv, and are preparing for even more powerful attacks,” Ukraine's President Volodymir Zelensky said in a video message broadcast online.

Since the morning, pro-Russian militias in Donetsk partially seized the town of Novobakhtumovka, located north of the regional capital, after engaging units of the 25th airborne brigade of the Ukrainian Army, as reported by the Russian Ministry of Defense in its morning part.

The spokesman of the Russian military entity, Igor Konashenkov, said that the militias had caused up to 40 casualties to Ukrainian troops, in addition to destroying a tank platoon, two motorized infantry platoons, and a battery of mortars.

The Russian side also reported the shooting down of two Ukrainian Mi-24 helicopters, one in the Sumy region, south of Kharkov, and another north of the port city of Mariupol, which has been resisting the siege of Russian troops for nearly a month, all in the east of the country.

For their part, the Lugansk militias continued their offensive and blocked the town of Borovskoye in the east and south, causing some 30 casualties to Ukrainian forces, in addition to destroying 5 armored vehicles, according to the Russian military side.

With information from AFP, EuropaPress and EFE

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