Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister, Hanna Maliar: Ukraine has taken back ‘Whole Kyiv Region’

In an official statement Saturday,Ukrainian Defense Minister Hanna Maliar stated that Ukraine has fully liberated the Kyiv Region from Russian invaders.

From the Daily Mail:

Maliar said: ‘Irpin, Bucha, Gostomel and the whole Kyiv region were liberated from the invader.’

Irpin and Bucha, commuters towns outside Kyiv, were retaken by the Ukrainian army this week. Both towns have suffered vast destruction and high civilian death tolls.

Bucha’s mayor said 280 people had been buried in a mass grave in the town and that corpses littered the streets.

At least 200 people have been killed in Irpin, a suburb of Kyiv, since Russia invaded Ukraine in late February, while Gostomel, near Kyiv, was the setting of heavy fighting to take control of the airfield there.

As Ukrainian defense forces push Russia out of Kyiv and the country’s north, Russian forces focus their efforts instead on the southern and eastern portions of Ukraine.

The civilian death toll within the towns surrounding Ukraine have been high, with bodies of civilian men strewn across the road in the suburb of Bucha. One executed civilian was even found with their hands and feet bound.

However, Russian losses in the thus-far failed effort to capture Kyiv have also been high, especially losses of armored vehicle units.

The highways around Kyiv are lined with destroyed and burnt out Russian tanks and armored troop transport vehicles, both a testament to the logistical failures of Russia and the resilience of Ukraine.

Additionally, the Chernobyl nuclear power plant, captures last month by Russian forces, has reportedly been liberated by Ukrainian defenders as well.

While the war is not over, and it is impossible to determine with certainty which side will win, it can be safely said that Russia has suffered far more losses and setbacks than anyone anticipated, with Ukrainian forces around Kyiv putting up far more resistance than Putin and Russia had hoped for.