Ukrainian Troops Push Russians Back Across Border

A symbolically important milestone - literally and figuratively. 

The broader significance is that Ukrainian forces may now threaten Russian supply lines into the Donbas. JL 

Chris Pleasance reports in the Daily Mail, image The Telegraph:

Ukrainian troops have reached the Russian border after successfully pushing Putin's forces away from the country's second-city of Kharkiv, as Putin's invasion continues to falter. Soldiers carrying a border marker painted in the colors of the Ukrainian flag and bearing the country's trident emblem filmed themselves planting the post somewhere along the frontier, to the north of Kharkiv. The footage was likely taken near Ternova - a town which Ukrainian troops entered on Saturday

Ukrainian troops have reached the Russian border after successfully pushing Putin's forces away from the country's second-city of Kharkiv, as Putin's invasion continues to falter.

Soldiers carrying a border marker painted in the colours of the Ukrainian flag and bearing the country's trident emblem filmed themselves planting the post somewhere along the frontier, to the north of Kharkiv.

'Today the 15th May, Kharkiv's territorial defence forces of Ukraine - 227th battalion, 127th brigade - went to the border that marks the split between the Russian Federation - the occupiers - and Ukraine. We are here' one of the soldiers said in footage posted online today by regional governor Oleh Synyehubov.

It is unclear exactly where the footage was filmed though it was likely taken near Ternova - a town roughly two miles from the Russian border which Ukrainian troops entered on Saturday, according to military top brass.

Ukraine has now all-but pushed Russian troops away from Kharkiv, alleviating a bombardment of the city which began on the first day of the war and has seen thousands of civilians killed or wounded.

It came as NATO chief Jens Stoltenburg predicted that Ukraine can 'win' the war having turned back offensives on Kyiv, Kharkiv and stalled the main advance in Donbas.

Stoltenburg, speaking Sunday during a meeting of NATO defence ministers in Berlin as Finland and Sweden announced formal plans to join the alliance, said the invasion is 'not going as Moscow had planned'.

'They failed to take Kyiv. They are pulling back from around Kharkiv. Their major offensive in Donbas has stalled. Russia is not achieving its strategic objectives. Ukraine can win this war,' he said, without spelling out what exactly 'victory' would mean.

In the early days of the war, Ukraine viewed victory as the survival of the state and withdrawal of Russian forces to pre-invasion territories plus the payment of reparations, foreign minister Dymtro Kuleba said last week.

But as the war has evolved, Kuleba says the goal is now to push Russia out of all Ukrainian territory - including occupied Crimea and rebel-held areas of Donbas.

The UK has voiced support for this goal, with the US has said it wants to see Russia 'weakened' to the point where it cannot invade another of its neighbouring states.

Moscow has warned that such goals carry the risk of a direct confrontation between NATO and Russian troops which could escalate into a nuclear war.

Key to the outcome of the war will be the battle for the eastern Donbas region, with President Volodymyr Zelensky saying his commanders are braced for a renewed Russian attack in the area today. 

'We are preparing for new attempts by Russia to attack in Donbas, to somehow intensify its movement in the south of Ukraine,' President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address.

'The occupiers still do not want to admit that they are in a dead-end and their so-called 'special operation' has already gone bankrupt,' he added.

Presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovich told local television that Russian troops were being transferred in the direction of Donbas after withdrawing from Kharkiv following the Ukrainian counteroffensive.

Kyiv's troops have made so much progress in the northern region that they have almost reached the border with Russia, according to interior ministry adviser Vadim Denisenko.

The Ukrainian army said Monday that some Russian forces remained to try and block the advance, and air sirens sounded in Kharkiv city in the early hours.