A Ukrainian military thrust that has pushed Russian troops out of key occupied territory prompted weekend optimism that the embattled country may be gathering momentum in repelling the 200-day-old invasion.
In its dramatic counterattack, Ukraine has reclaimed parts of the southern Kherson region and the northeastern Kharkiv region, where Russian troops were forced to withdraw under the threat of being surrounded.
Smoke rise from a house that was heavily damaged after a Russian attack in Pokrovsk region, Ukraine, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. (Leo Correa/)
Ukraine has liberated more than 1,100 square miles of Russian-held territory since the start of the month, Gen. Valerii Zaluzhnyy, the nation's military chief, said Sunday. He said Ukrainian troops were only about 30 miles from the Russian border.
"We always have to keep in mind that Russia still can do a lot of damage. But we don't have any other choice, we will advance," Oksana Markarova, Ukraine's ambassador to the United States, said Sunday on CBS' "Face the Nation."
"We will liberate all Ukraine, because this is what we have to do not only to restore our territorial integrity, but to save all of our people who are under occupation," she said.
In this handout photo taken from video released by Russian Defense Ministry Press Service on Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022, a Russian paratrooper fires a portable missile in Ukraine.
In an interview broadcast Sunday on CNN, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said: "Our goal is to de-occupy our whole territory."
"We will not be standing still," he said in the interview, which was conducted Friday.
In a video address on Saturday, Zelenskyy said the Russian army "made a good choice to run." He posted a video of Ukrainian soldiers raising the national flag over Chkalovske, a town reclaimed in the counteroffensive.
Kherson, a port city on the Black Sea, was the first major population center to fall in the war that began Feb. 24.
Retreating Russian troops left behind considerable quantities of weapons and munitions in the Kharkiv region, where their withdrawal marked Ukraine's biggest military success since averting a Russian attack on the capital city of Kyiv early in the war.
Grapes hang in the garden of Yevhenia Butkova's house that was damaged after a Russian attack in Pokrovsk region, Ukraine, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. (Leo Correa/)
The Ukrainian ambassador credited international military aid for helping in the country's recent successes.
"Our partners have increased all the support, and we're getting more and more of the weapons and the equipment that is so needed for that," she said.
"We would like to liberate all Ukraine, as soon as possible," she added. "But whether it will be possible before the end of the year, we are ready to do it before the end of the year and hopefully, we will have everything we need to do so."
Sen. Tim Kaine of Virginia, a member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he considered the Ukrainian advances encouraging.
"I'm proud that the U.S. and our allies have locked arms to support the Ukrainian people in this fight," Kaine, a Democrat, said in a statement to the Associated Press. "We and our allies must keep standing with Ukraine."
The counteroffensive "has proven a very significant victory for Ukraine," said Michael Kofman, a Russian military expert at CNA, a think tank in Virginia.
"Russian forces appear to have been spread thinly, and military leadership is unprepared despite earlier evidence of Ukrainian buildup," Kofman said. "I think it's fair to assess that Russia was caught by surprise with little in the way of reserves locally available."
Oleksander Zaitsev, 67, stands in front of the house where his friend was found dead after a Russian attack in Pokrovsk region, Ukraine, Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022. (Leo Correa/)
To the north, the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant was reconnected to the nation's electricity grid, allowing the shutdown of its last operational reactors in an attempt to avoid a radiation disaster.
The plant, the largest in Europe, lost its outside source of power a week ago due to heavy shelling, and it was relying on electricity from its only remaining reactor. The power is essential to keeping the reactors cool and preventing a nuclear meltdown.
Russian forces occupied the plant early in the war, but Ukrainian staff have continued to operate it. Heavy shelling in the area - for which each side has blamed the other - has fueled fears of a nuclear catastrophe.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, the U.N. nuclear watchdog, has stationed two experts at the plant after finally getting access inside earlier this month.
IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi said he remains "gravely concerned about the situation at the plant, which remains in danger as long as any shelling continues."
"Consultations have begun on the urgent need to establish a nuclear safety and security protection zone" at the plant, he said.
French President Emmanuel Macron on Sunday urged Russian President Vladimir Putin to withdraw troops and weapons from the plant to ensure its safety and security.
Macron told Putin by telephone that "Russian occupation of the nuclear plant was the cause for concern over its integrity," according to an official French statement.
With News Wire Services