LVIV, Ukraine — Ukrainian officials claimed Saturday they had clawed back most of Kyiv and its surroundings even as they warned of new dangers: land mines planted by withdrawing Russian forces and revived Russian pushes in the east.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warned that Russian troops were seeding northern areas of Ukraine with mines as Moscow increasingly focused its offensive thrust on the eastern Donbas region — home of two self-proclaimed republics loyal to Russia.
His military leaders said Russian forces were attempting to encircle Ukrainian troops in parts of the Donbas and pulling away from the capital, Kyiv. They also said Ukrainian forces were now in control of Kyiv and many of the suburbs that Russia had attempted to occupy, although that could not be verified independently.
