'Kyiv liberated' says top Ukrainian defence official as troops regain control of region

As the Russia-Ukraine war has entered its 39th day, the Deputy Defense Minister of the war-torn nation, Hanna Malyar announced on Saturday that the whole Kyiv region has been 'liberated' from Russian forces. On her official Facebook page, the Ukrainian defence official said in a post, “Irpin, Bucha, Hostomel and the whole Kyiv region were liberated from the invader!”  

Further, as per the Associated Press, Ukrainian soldiers were advancing farther north from Kyiv on Saturday, seizing positions in the town of Bucha as well as the Antonov Airport region near Hostomel after recapturing ground from Russian forces. 

Apart from these, the British Ministry of Defence (MoD) has earlier claimed that the Ukrainian military is advancing in the Kyiv vicinity against the withdrawing Russian forces. The UK defence ministry stated on Twitter that Ukrainian forces are starting to move along the northwestern alignment from Irpin to Bucha and Hostomel. According to the latest defence intelligence update, Ukraine had retaken a number of settlements along the eastern line. "Russian forces are reported to have withdrawn from Hostomel airport, which has been subject to fighting since the first day of the conflict," the MoD added. 

According to the most recent update, Ukrainian troops have captured an important passage in eastern Kharkiv after a tough struggle in the east of Ukraine. This comes after Trostyanets, a town near Sumy, was liberated earlier this week. 

Russian forces will focus on directing their missile systems in Belarus: Hanna Malyar

In addition to this, Ukrainian defence official Maliar had warned on Friday that invading Russian forces are seeking to 'concentrate' their missile systems in the southeastern region of Belarus for probable use of its weapon system during their assault against Ukraine. These claims were made after Russia had recently asserted to de-escalated in the Kyiv and Chernihiv region, CNN reported.  

Meanwhile, Ukraine's President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, has stated that the withdrawal of Russian troops from the country's north is "slow but noticeable" and has warned citizens that "difficult battles" may occur in the future. According to CNBC, Zelenskyy said in a Saturday morning video message that Russian forces were inflicting a "complete catastrophe" by laying bombs in buildings, on machinery, and on corpses as they evacuated from the zone. 

(Image: AP)