The city also remains in a complete information blackout, with no phone or data signal – a tactic used by the Russians across the occupied territories.įrom what the CNN team witnessed, local people are relieved to see their city back in Ukrainian hands.Īlthough the streets of Izium were largely quiet, residents would occasionally venture out of their homes and wave at CNN’s vehicles or at the passing military trucks, and shake hands with any Ukrainian soldiers they came across.īut at the same time, fear of the Russians still grips the city. The Ukrainians are seeking to capture a few Russian soldiers still in hiding, and anyone who worked with them during the occupation. ![]() In Izium, work is still ongoing to make the city center completely safe. Russia said the retreat of its troops from the region was “tactical,” in order to focus resources on the Donbas area. The city is a huge strategic loss for the Russian military, which used it as a key base and resupply route for its forces in eastern Ukraine, and shows the speed and scale of Ukraine’s lightning-fast counteroffensive in the northeast.Ĭombined with a parallel offensive in the south, Ukraine has taken back a total of 6,000 square kilometers (about 2,300 square miles) of land, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Monday. Izium has now been “liberated,” along with almost the whole of Kharkiv region, a Ukrainian military source told CNN. These are the signs of Ukrainian victory and, for now, a Russian rout.Īs CNN became the first international television crew to enter Izium since the Ukrainians retook it on Saturday, the team encountered a city just waking up to its new reality: that six months of occupation is over. ![]() Further along, the wreckage of a car is left alongside a destroyed petrol station surrounded by the debris of shelling. ![]() A collapsed bridge is covered in signs warning of landmines. Burned-out tanks and trucks emblazoned with Russia’s signature ‘Z’ symbol lie at the side of the road, gutted and red with new rust.
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