Ukraine claims gains on battlefield, shuts Russian gas flows on one route

KYIV/VILKHIVKA • Ukraine on Wednesday reported pushing back Moscow's forces in a counterattack that could signal a shift in the momentum of the war and shut gas flows on a route through Russian-held territory, raising the spectre of an energy crisis in Europe.

On the front lines, Ukraine has mounted a bold counter-offensive in recent days that has ousted Russian forces from villages north and east of Kharkiv, where Russian troops had held the outskirts since the beginning of the invasion.

Reuters journalists have confirmed in recent days that Ukraine is now in control of territory on the banks of the Siverskiy Donets River, around 40km from Kharkiv.

To the north, the Ukrainians have been pushing towards the Russian border.

The General Staff of Ukraine's armed forces said it had recaptured Pytomnyk, a village on the main highway north of Ukraine's second-largest city of Kharkiv, about halfway to the Russian border.

"The occupying forces moved to the defence in order to slow down the pace of the offensive of our troops," it said. "The settlement of Pytomnyk... was liberated."

One Ukrainian military source said on condition of anonymity that Ukraine's forces were within just several kilometres of the Russian frontier by Wednesday.

Beforehand, Russian forces had been on the outskirts of Kharkiv, which is 40km from the frontier.

The advance appears to be the fastest that Ukraine has mounted since it drove Russian troops away from the capital Kyiv and out of northern Ukraine last month.

If sustained, it could allow Ukrainian forces to threaten supply lines for Russia's main attack force, and even put rear logistics targets in Russia itself within range of artillery.

In Vilkhivka, a shattered village east of Kharkiv, the thump of near-constant artillery and swoosh of multiple rocket launchers could be heard from fighting at the front.

The Kremlin calls its actions in Ukraine a "special military operation" to demilitarise a neighbour threatening its security. It denies targeting civilians.

Ukraine says it poses no threat, and that the deaths of thousands of civilians and destruction of towns and cities show that Russia is waging a war of conquest.

Wednesday's move by Ukraine to cut off Russian gas supplies through territory held by Russian-backed separatists was the first time the conflict has directly disrupted shipments to Europe.

Gas flows from Russia's export monopoly Gazprom to Europe via Ukraine fell by a quarter after Kyiv said it was forced to halt all flows from one route, through the Sokhranovka transit point in southern Russia.

REUTERS