Ukraine celebrates as Russia ‘forced to retreat’ after rapid counteroffensive

Ukraine says it has forced Russian troops out of more than 20 towns and villages in the last 24 hours, claiming that Russians have begun fleeing from occupied areas of the Donbas.

Much of the Kharkiv region has been plunged into darkness after Russian missiles knocked out power and water supplies, in what Ukraine described as an act of “revenge” for Moscow’s recent battlefield defeats.