Defence officials of Ukraine have declared the reclamation of the eastern city of Chuhuiv.
The General Staff has stated that the defending forces successfully seized the city from the Russians and caused significant casualties in both personnel and equipment.
Two high-ranking Russian commanders were fatally wounded in the confrontation.
The strategically important city, with a population of 31,000, is situated 23 miles from Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city which has been intensely bombarded.
The General Staff posted on Facebook: ‘During the combat operations, the city of Chuhuiv was liberated.’
‘The occupiers suffered heavy losses in personnel and equipment.’
‘Lieutenant Colonel Dmitry Safronov, Commander of the 61st Separate Marine Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces, and Lieutenant Colonel Denis Glebov, Deputy Commander of the 11th Separate Airborne Assault Brigade of the Russian Armed Forces, were killed.’
The city has endured severe shelling since the beginning of the conflict and was the location of an airstrike which gravely injured a 52-year-old woman, who has since become a symbol of the war.
In spite of the intense bombardment, Ukraine has been able to withstand the Russian forces and even launch counteroffensives to regain control of the city.
These developments occur as cities experienced renewed bombardments this morning, marking the twelfth day of Vladimir Putin’s invasion.
Volodymyr Zelensky pledged that ‘God will not forgive’ and Ukraine ‘will not forget’ the killing of civilians by Russia, emphasizing that a ‘day of judgment’ awaits the perpetrators.
In a late-night address to his compatriots on the Orthodox Christian holiday of ‘Forgiveness Sunday’, Zelensky recounted how a family of four were among the eight civilians killed by Russian mortar fire while attempting to flee the city of Irpin, near Kyiv, earlier in the day.
‘We will not forgive. We will not forget,’ he declared. ‘We cannot forgive the hundreds, even thousands, of victims. God will not forgive. Not today. Not tomorrow. Never.’