![]() ![]() Those high-ranking officers fled their bunker, while their men abandoned their heavy weapons as they fled. That confusion and sense of disillusionment from among the Russian ground troops was likely a major factor in their retreat from this region in the past week.īut more dangerous to Putin is that the command-and-control system of his army collapsed in Kharkiv province. He said at one point, Russian reconnaissance forces came to him and asked, "Who have we come to liberate here?" "Everyone here has relatives in Belgorod (in Russia) and other cities." "I told them they destroyed a man's house, and he was from the Kursk region (of Russia)," Valeriy said. Valeriy said he spoke to the young soldiers in Russian and tried to make them see that they were destroying the once-close relationship Ukrainians and Russians held, particularly in this part of the country which is so close to the border. "A (Russian) artilleryman came and said 'Father, we saved you from the Nazis,'" Valeriy said. He said the Russian troops who arrived in the city early in the war quickly realized that Russian President Vladimir Putin's justification for the invasion - to "de-Nazify" Ukraine - was a lie. Their next-door neighbor's house was destroyed by one of the rockets, but she survived without a scratch. Valeriy said the fighting in Izium began on March 4, when eight Grad rockets landed near their home, which was "frightening" but luckily did not hit them directly. We entered one house - and pigs live better." "Where there were no people, (the Russians) stole everything," Valeriy said. Izium resident Valeriy said the locals in the city were angry with the Russians for their behavior. Ukrainian soldiers were victorious in spirit as they drove through the city, waving from their newly acquired tanks and trucks, many of them with the tell-tale 'Z' already painted over. "Russian technology!" he sneered - in English.Ībove ground, the Russians also left piles of ammunition.Īlong with the loss of weaponry, and the humiliating retreat captured on multiple videos and shared across social media, one military official tells CNN that a large number of Russian prisoners of war have been taken by Ukraine. One Ukrainian soldier showed CNN the green rotary phone that the troops had left behind. The retreating troops had apparently left in a hurry, with clothes, toothpaste and papers left scattered on the floor and the beds. Rows of mismatched school desks lined the gloomy basement, with job titles attached on white labels - including the commanders of air defense, artillery, intelligence, and state security, along with lower-ranking titles such as "duty officer." Nearby, the Ukrainian troops are still finding booby traps that were left to protect their lair - including a trip wire with a grenade attached.Īnother bleak concrete room opposite the command center served as the sleeping quarters, with old wooden doors placed horizontally on piles of bricks or jerry cans to create makeshift beds. Next to the building lies the shell of a red truck on its side, carrying the 'Z' logo of Russian forces.įurther down the road is the building that those troops were trying to protect: the Russian command center, hidden in a subterranean bunker beneath a disused factory. The building has now been gutted, with piles of red bricks and radiators tangled with broken windows and collapsed timber from the roof. The Russians had surrounded the building with deep trenches, sand bags and armored vehicles. One of the final showdowns in the battle for Izium, according to the Ukrainian military, took place in a former school which was being used as a Russian troop base. Inside the abandoned Russian command center The Ukrainians have gained a huge weaponry haul from these battles in the northeast, as many Russian troops sacrificed their vehicles intact in order to escape with their lives. When asked if it was a tough fight to retake the city, the tank driver who drove off with the howitzer replied, "Not really." The weapon is among the most powerful in Russia's armory and will be repurposed for Ukraine's counteroffensive. With obvious glee, they quickly hitched it to a Russian self-propelled artillery vehicle, abandoned intact by retreating Russians. ![]() The distant sound of shelling is a constant reminder that despite the impressive gains in this counteroffensive, the war is not yet won - and many parts of Ukraine are still within range of Russia's arsenal of heavy weapons.īut slowly, the Ukrainians are working to restore Izium and the other recaptured territories to something approaching normal.ĭuring CNN's visit, a group of Ukrainian soldiers barreled up triumphantly in a steaming tank. ![]() "We prayed to God to be liberated without a fight and without blood. They have been celebrating the Ukrainian victory over the city, Valeriy said, calling it a "balm for the soul." ![]()
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