(Reuters) – Russian forces have abandoned the Ukrainian village of Robotyne, according to a Russian-appointed official, more than a week after Kyiv announced its recapture.
Yevgeny Balitsky, the top Moscow-installed official in the Zaporizhzhia region, stated in a television interview that the Russian army had withdrawn for tactical reasons.
“The Russian army abandoned – tactically abandoned – this settlement because staying on a bare surface when there is no way to completely dig in… doesn’t generally make sense. Therefore the Russian army moved off into the hills,” news outlet RBC quoted him as saying.
Russia has not previously acknowledged the loss of Robotyne, which Ukraine announced on Aug. 28. According to the Russian Defence Ministry’s daily update on Tuesday, its forces had repelled two Ukrainian attacks near Robotyne.
Despite repeated statements from Moscow that Ukraine’s three-month-old counteroffensive has been a failure, Ukraine claims it is gaining ground and has broken through Russia’s first line of fortifications in several places on the front line, more than 18 months after Russia’s invasion.
Mark Trevelyan reporting; Michael Perry editing
Credit: The Star : News Feed
