Ukraine goes on the counteroffensive as Russians fall back

Ukrainian forces have pushed the enemy within 10km of the Russian border, and continue to thwart Russian attacks along the line of contact.Ukraine moved on the counteroffensive during week 11 of Russia’s war, taking back towns to the north and east of the second-largest city Kharkiv.According to some news reports, Russian forces retreated to regroup around defensive positions less than 10km (6 miles) from the Russian border, with Ukrainian units in hot pursuit.“This Ukrainian operation is developing into a successful, broader counteroffensive – as opposed to the more localized counterattacks that Ukrainian forces have conducted throughout the war to secure key terrain and disrupt Russian offensive operations,” said the Institute for the Study of War.“Ukrainian forces are notably retaking territory along a broad arc around Kharkiv rather than focusing on a narrow thrust, indicating an ability to launch larger-scale offensive operations than we have observed so far in the war.”Reflecting increased confidence, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy for the first time outlined strict conditions on May 6 to enter peace talks with Russia, including a withdrawal of Russian forces to pre-February 24 borders, the return of nearly six million refugees, membership in the European Union, and accountability for those Russians who committed war crimes.These remarks were a far cry from those Zelenskyy made on April 10. It was a huge shopping centre and it was completely demolished,” he told Al Jazeera.Ukrainian forces are fighting fierce battles in Mykolaiv, 180km (111 miles) east of Odesa, sparing the port city daily contact with the war until now, but “when people hear sirens now, they immediately try to find a basement”, said Boubouras, a Greek whose family has run a construction business there for the past 25 years.Asked why the family has not repatriated to Greece, Boubouras said: “That is what Russia wants – to empty the cities.