A Ukrainian counterattack that began Friday in the eastern city of Kharkiv has led to the recapture of several villages, according to the regional governor.
CNN has spotted and verified a video showing Ukrainian troops controlling Vilkhivka, one of the settlements about 32 kilometers (20 miles) from the Russian border in northeastern Ukraine.
Oleg Synegubov, Kharkiv regional administrator, said some villages around Malaya Rogan had been recaptured by Ukrainian forces. The villages are about 20 kilometers (12 miles) from the center of Kharkiv, which has been almost surrounded by Russian forces since the first weeks of the invasion.
Video shows shootings: An additional video, posted on the Telegram on Saturday, shows a fierce clash between Ukrainian forces – including members of the Azov Battalion – and Russian forces in the village of Vilkhivka. The Azov Battalion began as a supranational militia in eastern Ukraine and has since been absorbed by the Ukrainian army.
The video shows the ammunition between the Russian and Ukrainian forces between the houses and the yards of the village. At one point, Ukrainian troops move towards the village school, where Russian forces appear to be stationed.
The soldier who uploaded the video edited the video, claimed in the Telegram that the battalion had killed “about 70 soldiers” and ordered a number of Russian military vehicles. CNN could not confirm the deaths of Russian soldiers or the seizure of vehicles.
Allegations of Russian prisoners: The soldier also claimed that the battalion had captured 27 Russian soldiers. In the edited video, several apparently captured Russian soldiers are blindfolded and some have been stripped of most of their clothes.
The video shows them being squeezed into the backs of cars and trucks and being removed by members of the battalion. Some were clearly injured.
Ukrainian counterattacks: The success of Ukrainian forces around Kharkiv is reflected further north, near the town of Sumy, where Ukrainian troops have liberated a number of settlements, according to videos identified and verified by CNN. A separate counterattack south, about 63 miles (103 kilometers) northwest of Mariupol, also resulted in the liberation of two villages by Russian forces, according to the Zaporizhzhia regional military administration.
