APsplainin Kherson, Khark*v counter-offensives, 12 Sep
Ukraine makes more gains, pushes back to NE border in places - video

As blue-and-yellow Ukrainian flags fluttered over newly liberated towns, the Ukrainian military said its troops had freed more than 20 settlements in 24 hours. In recent days, Kyiv's forces have captured territory at least twice the size of greater London, according to the British Defense Ministry.

After months of little discernible movement on the battlefield, the momentum has lifted Ukrainian morale and provoked rare [Russian] public criticism of Russian President Vladimir PUTIN'S WAR. While Ukrainian cities began emerging from Russian occupation, a local leader alleged that the Kremlin's troops had committed atrocities against civilians there similar to those in other places seized by Moscow.
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"The Russians were here in the morning. Then at noon, they suddenly started shouting wildly and began to run away, charging off in tanks and armored vehicles," Dmytro Hrushchenko, a resident of recently liberated Zaliznychne, a small town near the eastern front line, told Sky News of the quick withdrawal.

MSN Newsweek | Ukraine Map Reveals How Invasion Is Being Rolled Back 200 Days to 24 Feb

Video taken by the Ukrainian military showed soldiers raising the Ukrainian flag over battle-damaged buildings. In one scene, a fighter wiped his boots on a Russian flag on the ground. Other videos showed Ukrainians inspecting the wreckage of Russian military vehicles, including tanks.
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Denis Pushilin, head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, told Russian television that Ukrainian troops were mounting assaults on the town of Lyman, a rail hub captured by Russia in late May that offers access to bridges over the nearby Siversky Donets river. Pushilin said that pro-Kremlin soldiers "are holding them back, and the situation, despite the fact that it remains difficult, remains controllable."

The Donetsk [oblast] is one of two ["breakaway republics", "Russian puppet states"] that make up Ukraine's industrial heartland known as the Donbas [DPR, LPR], which continues to be a key target [?] of Russia's offensive.
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The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said Monday that Kyiv "will likely increasingly dictate the location and nature of the major fighting."
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Some analysts praised Ukraine's initial move on the south[west] Kherson area for drawing the attention of enemy troops there, before pouncing on more depleted Russian lines in the northeast [Khark*v]. Even around Kherson, Russia is struggling to bring forces across the Dnieper to stop the Ukrainian offensive there, the British military said.