Russia targets infrastructure in retaliation to rapid Ukraine gains

Russia targeted infrastructure facilities in central and eastern Ukraine on Sunday evening in a response to a dramatic Ukrainian counter-offensive in Kharkiv province that has reshaped the war and left Moscow reeling.

The Ukrainians have retaken the rail hub of Kupiansk, 60 miles east of Kharkiv, and are in the process of seizing Izium, which was being abruptly abandoned by the Russians whose defence ministry said their forces were regrouping.

The Russian strikes come after several days of striking Ukrainian gains. According to the Institute for the Study of War, a US thinktank, Ukraine has retaken more territory in five days than Russia had taken since April in the lightning counteroffensive, whose success has alarmed vocal supporters.

Ramzan Kadyrov, the Kremlin-appointed leader of Chechnya, criticised the military for the battlefield setbacks and said he might have to raise his concerns with president Vladimir Putin if the strategy did not change within a day or two.

On Saturday, as the disastrous news for Russia from the front trickled through, Putin was busy opening a huge observation wheel in a Moscow park as part of celebrations for Moscow Day. Military bloggers sharply criticised him for going ahead with the celebrations and making no reference to the war.

Izium, captured by the Russians in March and April, is a strategic gateway into the western Donbas, which is still under Ukrainian control, and was one of most advanced bridgeheads held by the invaders in the east of the country.

Kyiv had surprised Moscow with the attack which began on Tuesday last week, in an that was area lightly defended with no available reserves, partly because Russia had redeployed some of its more experienced forces to the south to defend Kherson, where Ukraine had begun a separate counterattack.