LVIV, Ukraine — Russian troops appeared to be drawing back from the outskirts of Ukraine’s second-largest city Saturday even as fighting continued to rage in other parts of the embattled nation and senior Ukrainian officials predicted a “new, long-term phase” of conflict to last through much of the summer.
Local authorities and military officials said Russian forces were retreating from north of Kharkiv, a city that has faced relentless bombardment since the war began 80 days ago, and were heading toward the Russian border. An analysis released by the Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based think tank, supported those claims, saying Ukraine has “likely won the battle of Kharkiv.”
“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,” the institute said.
