Ukraine pushes major counteroffensive as war marks 200 days

Ukraine has sought to mobilise the population to reach an active military of 1 million people, while Russia, in contrast, has continued to rely on a limited contingent of volunteers

As the war in Ukraine marks 200 days, the country has reclaimed broad swaths of the south and east in a long-anticipated counteroffensive that has dealt a heavy blow to Russia.

The counterattack began in the final days of August and at first focused on the southern region of Kherson, which was swept by Russian forces in the opening days of the invasion. But just as Moscow redirected attention and troops there, Ukraine launched another, highly effective offensive in the northeastern region of Kharkiv.

Facing the prospect of a large group of its forces becoming surrounded, Moscow ordered a troop pullback from Kharkiv, in a dramatic change of the state of play that posed the biggest challenge to the Kremlin since it launched the invasion February 24.

“The Ukrainian army has taken advantage of the relocation of the bulk of the Russian forces to the south and is trying to direct the course of the war, excelling in manoeuvre and showing great ingenuity,” said Mykola Sunhurovskyi, a military expert with the Razumkov Centre, a Kyiv-based think tank. Ukraine's quick gains, he added, are “important both for seizing initiative and raising troops' spirit.”

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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky commended the military in a video address late Saturday, saying it has reclaimed about 2,000 square kilometres (over 770 square miles) of territory so far this month. He also taunted Moscow over its withdrawal, saying the Russian army was “demonstrating the best it can do — showing its back” and “they made a good choice to run.”

Both sides have suffered heavy losses in Europe's largest conflict since World War II. Ukraine's military chief said last month that nearly 9,000 of the country's soldiers have been killed in action. And while Moscow hasn't reported its own losses since March, Western estimates put the toll as high as 25,000 dead, with the wounded, captured and deserters bringing the overall Russian losses to more than 80,000.