Despite “turning point” – expert: hopes for a quick end of war “in vain”

“But if you hope for a quick end to the war, you hope in vain,” said the colonel in the ORF “ZiB 2” on Monday about the current war situation. He said the Russians were caught off guard by Ukraine’s rapid advance, in part because there was “no depth to the defense” and the morale of the Russian soldiers was declining.

Therefore, the Russians often had no choice but to flee, the military expert explained. How Russian President Vladimir Putin will respond to the new situation is still open, but a “nuclear attack is hopefully not an option”.

Many Russians have probably left the country
According to the US military, many Russian soldiers withdrawing from the Kharkov area have left the country. Large parts of these troops have crossed the border and returned to Russia, a senior US military official said. The US representative gave no figures.

Monday’s Kiev situation report also showed photos of Ukrainian soldiers in Sivatohirsk in the Donetsk region. However, there was no confirmation of the capture of the city with an important Orthodox monastery. The General Staff reported fighting along almost the entire front line in the east on Monday. Several attacks by the Russian army were repulsed. Its own air force and artillery destroyed several Russian command posts and depots. The military information was not independently verifiable.

Apparently no new troops sent
Observing the enemy at the front, the Kiev General Staff reported that Russia was no longer sending newly assembled troops to Ukraine. The reason given was that many volunteers, impressed by the high death toll, refused to be deployed in Ukraine. There was no Russian confirmation of this.

There was also no confirmation from Moscow on Sunday for a message from the Ukrainian military intelligence service. Accordingly, Russian General Roman Berdnikov, in charge of the Kharkov front, would have been replaced by General Alexander Lapin.

Victims showed “traces of torture”.
According to authorities, four bodies with “traces of torture” were discovered in a recaptured village near Kharkov. Initial investigations revealed that the people found in Zaliznychn were “killed by Russian soldiers during the occupation of the place,” the regional prosecutor’s office wrote on Facebook on Monday. Three of the bodies were found on private property, one on a factory site near the train station.

According to the prosecutor’s office, after the recapture of several cities by Ukraine, authorities received information that several civilians had been killed by Russian soldiers. The bodies would now be examined by coroners, the law enforcement agency said. An investigation into murder and “violations of martial law” is ongoing.

More war crimes committed?
The prosecutor’s office had already reported on Friday the discovery of two bodies with signs of torture and bullet holes in the back of the head from the eastern Ukrainian village of Hrakowe. Human rights group Amnesty International on Monday called on Ukrainian authorities to “give priority” to gathering evidence of war crimes in areas recaptured from Russia. But since this task is “hugely complex”, the international community must support Kiev, Amnesty said.

Russia is already accused of killing civilians in the region around the capital Kiev, from which Russian troops withdrew at the end of March. Especially in the city of Bucha, numerous bodies of civilians were discovered. Moscow has always denied all war crimes and has spoken of “forgeries”.