Ukraine says Russians are withdrawing from Kharkiv – New York Daily News

Russian troops are pulling out of Ukraine’s second-largest city, Ukrainian officials said Saturday.

The Russians had spent weeks unleashing their might on Kharkiv, a city of more than 1.4 million people in the northeast part of Ukraine. But now they are stepping up their attacks in the eastern province of Donetsk.

Ukraine is “entering a new — long-term — phase of the war,” Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said Saturday.

As the Russians leave Kharkiv, the U.S. Republicans rolled into Kyiv. A group of GOP senators led by Minority Leader Mitch McConnell met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in the capital city. Also on hand were Sens. Susan Collins of Maine, John Barrasso of Wyoming and John Cornyn of Texas.

The visit came after McConnell’s fellow Kentuckian, Rand Paul, blocked an additional $40 billion in U.S. aid to Ukraine until next week.

On Instagram, Zelenskyy called the senators’ trip “a strong signal of bipartisan support for Ukraine from the United States Congress and the American people.”

As he gave his nightly video address Saturday, Zelenskyy said the visit displayed “the strong connection between the Ukrainian and American people. We discussed various areas of support for our country, including defense and finance, as well as strengthening sanctions against Russia.”

Several U.S. dignitaries have traveled to the embattled nation this month. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and a group of fellow House Democrats visited on May 1 and promised Zelenskyy U.S. support. First Lady Jill Biden met with Zelenskyy’s wife, Olena Zelenska, last week.

Russia’s Vladimir Putin launched the unprovoked war against his Western neighbor on Feb. 24. His troops have encountered fierce resistance from Ukrainians.

After his bid to capture Kyiv failed, the Russian despot shifted his focus east to the industrial region of Donbas, where Ukraine has battled Moscow-backed separatists since 2014.

Russia’s new plan is to try to encircle Ukraine’s top troops — who are deployed in that area — and to seize parts of the Donbas that remain in Ukraine’s control.

The heavy fighting has made it hard for journalists to document the action in the east, but both sides appear to be gaining — and giving — ground. Russia has captured some Donbas villages, but Zelenskyy said Ukraine has retaken six towns or villages in the past day.

But in Kharkiv, which is just 50 miles southwest of the Russian city of Belgorod, the picture appears clearer.

Ukraine “appears to have won the Battle of Kharkiv,” said the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank. “Ukrainian forces prevented Russian troops from encircling, let alone seizing Kharkiv, and then expelled them from around the city, as they did to Russian forces attempting to seize Kyiv.”

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There was no shelling on Kharkiv in the past day, said Regional Gov. Oleh Sinegubov. Instead, he said, Ukraine forces have launched a counteroffensive near Izyum, which is 78 miles south of Kharkiv and has been in Russian control since the start of April.

There is also intense fighting on the Siversky Donets River. Ukraine has launched counterattacks near the city of Severodonetsk but failed to stop the advancing Russians, according to Oleh Zhdanov, an independent Ukrainian military analyst.

“The fate of a large portion of the Ukrainian army is being decided — there are about 40,000 Ukrainian soldiers,” Zhdanov said.

The war is not only battering Ukrainians, but it is taking a heavy toll on the world’s food supply, the Group of Seven leading economies said Saturday.

“Russia’s war of aggression has generated one of the most severe food and energy crises in recent history which now threatens those most vulnerable across the globe,” the G-7 said in a statement.

Ukraine supplies grain to much of the world, and up to 50 million people, particularly in Africa and the Middle East, would face hunger in the coming months unless Ukrainian grain is distributed, said German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock, who hosted the G-7 diplomats’ meeting.

With News Wire Services