On Saturday, Russia's Defense Ministry announced that Russian forces are being withdrawn from two areas in the Kharkiv region, following a Ukrainian counteroffensive.
Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said troops from the Balakliya and Izyum areas would be regrouped to the eastern Donetsk region.
The decision to withdraw is taken "in order to achieve the stated goals of the special military operation to liberate Donbas," a region in the east, according to Konashenkov.
"The brilliant (clearly within the framework of the plan and even ahead of schedule) operation to transfer the cities of Izyum, Balakliya and Kupiansk to respected Ukrainian partners."
- Igor Girkin, Leader of the Separatist Uprising in Donetsk in 2014
On Friday, Zelenskyy said Ukrainian troops had reclaimed more than 30 settlements in the Kharkiv region following the start of the counteroffensive.
