RUSSIAN soldiers raised a white flag as they fled a lighting Ukrainian advance that has reclaimed large swathes of territory, it was reported.
In major humiliation for Vladimir Putin’s forces, the Russian defence ministry has admitted its troops have been forced to withdraw from the key city of Izium in the face of the onslaught.
The city was a major Russian bastion in the area of northeastern Ukraine it still held and its defeat could mark a major turning point in the war.
Troops there are being sent to reinforce operations elsewhere in in the neighbouring Russian breakaway area of Donetsk.
Reports are now emerging of Russian troops fleeing in the manner of their humiliating defeat around the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in spring.
“Yesterday evening, Russians put a white flag nearby the railway station,” a Ukrainian officer who participated in the liberation of Izium told the New York Times.
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As the Ukrainians advanced, a bloodied and bruised senior Russian officer was seen after being captured.
The Russian announcement comes hours after Ukrainian troops captured the city of Kupiansk further north, the sole railway hub supplying Russia's entire frontline across northeastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian officials posted photos of their troops raising the country's blue and yellow flag in front of city hall in Kupiansk at dawn.
Ukrainian forces have recaptured dozens of towns and villages held by Russia for months, since bursting through the frontline earlier this week.
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That left thousands of Russian troops abruptly cut off from supplies across an entire stretch of front that has seen some of the most intense battles of the war.
“There is still a lot that we don’t know about the offensive, but it is clear this was well planned and executed by Ukrainian forces,” said Rob Lee, a military analyst at the Foreign Policy Research Institute.
“It looks like a very effective combined arms operation with tanks, mechanized infantry, Special Operations forces, air defenses, artillery and other systems.”
Mark Hertling, a retired four-star general and former commander of U.S. ground forces in Europe, tweeted “make no mistake” Ukraine “is executing a brilliant maneuver”.
“But the Russians are helping them – by doing very little to counter,” he added.
Russian forces had fought hard to capture Izium early in the war.
It was used it as the logistics base for one of their main campaigns – a months-long assault from the north on the adjacent Donbas region.
The Russian defeat could prove to be a decisive turning point in the six-month war, with thousands of Russian soldiers abandoning their ammunition stockpiles and equipment as they flee.
It brought a swift and sudden end to a period during which the war had been fought as a relentless grind on a static front, favouring Moscow's advantage in raw firepower.
Ukraine's top general has raised fears Russian defeats on the battlefield could lead to Putin ordering the use of nuclear weapons.
Ukrainian officials stopped short of confirming that they had recaptured Izium.
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But President Volodymyr Zelenskiy's chief of staff Andriy Yermak tweeted an emoji of grapes.
The word "Izium" means "raisin" in Ukrainian and Russian.
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