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A report published yesterday which documents the routine use of torture in Izium, a small city in eastern Ukraine which was recently recaptured after months of Russian occupation. The Associated Press sent reporters to the city and spoke with residents who identified 10 locations which had been used by Russians to torture both Ukrainian military personnel and civilians.(snip)Russian torture in Izium was arbitrary, widespread and absolutely routine for both civilians and soldiers throughout the city, an Associated Press investigation has found.(snip) Based on accounts of survivors and police, AP journalists located 10 torture sites in the town and gained access...

Advisory - Story has been withdrawn - Multiple bodies found at mass burial site in Ukraine's Izium with rope around necks

Russian nationalists called angrily on Sunday for President Vladimir Putin to make immediate changes to ensure ultimate victory in the Ukraine war, a day after Moscow was forced to abandon its main bastion in northeastern Ukraine. The swift fall of Izium in Kharkiv province was Russia's worst military defeat since its troops were forced back from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in March. (snip)Moscow's almost total silence on the defeat - or any explanation for what had taken place in northeastern Ukraine - provoked significant anger among some pro-war commentators and Russian nationalists on social media. Neither Putin, who is Russia's...

The Russian-installed chief administrator of Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine’s Kharkiv region recommended on Saturday that all its inhabitants evacuate to Russia “to save lives,” according to the Russian state-run TASS news agency. Vitaly Ganchev said official representatives were ready to provide the refugees with food, heat and medical care, according to TASS. The Russian Defence Ministry said it was pulling troops out of Izium and Balakliia – crucial military supply hubs in the Kharkiv region – as Ukraine claimed rapid advances. Ganchev had said on Friday that civilians were being evacuated from several towns that had come under heavy pressure...

Astonishing footage has captured the moment that Russian soldiers are thrown off a fleeing tank which is sent crashing into a tree as Ukraine's forces continue their 30-mile advance into Russian occupied areas. The fleeing tank is seen desperately retreating at a considerable speed near Izyum in the Kharkiv region with several soldiers on top of its hull. But moments after Russian troops are thrown from the tank, it is seen swerving off the road before smashing straight into a tree which falls on the remaining soldiers.

Ukrainian forces have entered Izium after forcing Russian troops to retreat, an officer involved in the operation to liberate the strategic eastern city told CNN Saturday. Izium, which sits near the border between the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, had been under Russian occupation for more than five months and had become an important hub for the invading military. "We have just started clearing the town. First military units are in," the officer told CNN. A spokesperson for the Bohun Brigade of the Land Forces of Ukraine said in a statement earlier on Saturday that "Russians escaped and left weapons and...

Ukraine is reportedly on the precipice of a major victory, with its counter-offensive around the eastern city of Kharkiv (Kharkov) unexpectedly putting the Russian army on the back foot. According to British intelligence, Russian forces appear to have been “taken by surprise” by the Ukrainians, who have reportedly advanced “up to 50 kilometres (31 miles) into previously Russian-held territory on a narrow front.”

Moscow abandoned its main bastion in northeastern Ukraine on Saturday, a sudden apparent collapse of one of the war's principal front lines after Ukrainian forces moved to encircle the area in a shock advance. The state-run TASS news agency quoted Russia's defence ministry as saying it had ordered troops to leave the area around the city of Izium in Kharkiv province, saying they would be sent to reinforce operations elsewhere in neighbouring Donetsk. The announcement came hours after Ukrainian troops captured the city of Kupiansk further north, the sole railway hub supplying Russia's entire frontline across northeastern Ukraine. That left...

KYIV — The front lines in the Ukraine war had shifted on Sunday as Russia made some advances in the fiercely contested eastern Donbas region and the Ukrainian military waged a counteroffensive near the strategic Russian-held city of Izium. ….snip Keeping up pressure on Izium and Russian supply lines will make it harder for Moscow to encircle battle-hardened Ukrainian troops on the eastern front in the Donbas. Izium straddles the Donets river, about 120 km (75 miles) from Kharkiv on the main highway heading southeast. “The hottest spot remains the Izium direction,” regional governor Oleh Sinegubov said in comments aired...