Published 06:45 IST, September 13th 2022

Ukrainian soldiers outnumbered Russians troops 8 to 1 in Kherson counter-attack

A top Moscow official acknowledged that Ukrainian forces outnumbered Russia's soldiers by eight to one in last week's counter-attack in the Kharkiv region.

Reported by: Ajeet Kumar
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In a major blow to Russia, a top Moscow official acknowledged that Ukrainian forces outnumbered Russians by eight to one in last week's counter-attack in the Kharkiv region, BBC reported. According to the reports, the critical remarks came from  Vitaly Ganchev, a Russian-installed official in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, while speaking to the state-owned Rossiya-24 television channel. He admitted that the Ukrainian forces have been performing well in the battleground and said they have captured several regions in the north-- once captured by Russia in March. He said more than 5,000 civilians were also evacuated to Moscow. "The situation is becoming more difficult by the hour," Ganchev said. 

The same had been confirmed by the Russian Defence Ministry on Sunday where it published a map exhibiting how their forces have abandoned most of the Kharkiv region. However, in the Kherson region, the ministry claimed there were no threats from the Ukrainian Army. "In Kherson, there is no panic," the ministry claimed in a Telegram posted on Sunday.
Moreover, a US-based institute for the study of war, claimed Ukrainian forces were also making progress in the Kherson region. The report said Zelenskyy forces were now closer to Kherson city.  

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Putin's closest ally criticises Russian forces 

As the war in Ukraine marked 200 days on Sunday and Ukrainian troops reclaimed several key regions of the country, a top Kremlin leader criticised the Russian army and its leadership saying he would speak to President Vladimir Putin about the recent debacle. In a Telegram post, Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-appointed leader of Chechnya, questioned the Russian army over the recent advances claimed by the Ukrainian forces. According to Kadyrov, Putin might not be aware of the real state of affairs.  "They have made mistakes and I think they will draw the necessary conclusions," Kadyrov said in an audio message posted to his Telegram channel.

Notably, the critical remark from the top Putin ally came as Ukrainian forces claimed they have regained the southern region of Kherson, which was captured by Russian forces in the opening days of the Moscow-Kyiv war. On Saturday, Ukraine claimed it launched another, highly effective offence in the northeast, near Kharkiv, resulting in the Russian forces fleeing the region leaving the arms and ammunition in the battleground. Notably, since the onset of the invasion, Russia, on several instances, bolstered the claims and said they planned to keep the captured areas “forever”. However, on Saturday, Ukraine launched a highly effective offence in the northeast, near Kharkiv and regained several regions. 

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Image: @DefenceU/Twitter

06:45 IST, September 13th 2022