Russians withdraw from Kharkov, Ukraine's second city, NYT reports

The Russian army is withdrawing troops from the city of Kharkov, Ukraine's second-largest city, on which it had intensified its shelling in recent days, The New York Times reported Friday.

The newspaper, which cites official Ukrainian and Western allied sources, claims that the Russians have lost ground in this region neighbouring the Donbas, where the self-proclaimed republics of Donetsk and Lugansk, both recognised by Moscow, are located.

In fact, the Russian army aims to control Kharkov in order to ensure the success of the offensive it has launched on these two pro-Russian regions

If confirmed, it would be one of "the biggest setbacks suffered by Russia since its withdrawal from Kiev last month", the newspaper noted.

Ukrainian officials believe the Kremlin is likely to redirect troops now to the southeast, where it is said to be reinforcing its forces in Izium, a town it captured last month.

Izium, about two hours southeast of Kharkov, has become a crucial centre of operations for Russia, which is reportedly making gains in the eastern Donbas region, where fighting has been relentless and its forces are aided by pro-Russian paramilitary groups.

Russia has been trying in recent weeks to establish a corridor that would allow its troops to move from eastern Ukraine to the Crimean peninsula, which it invaded in 2014.

To this end, it has redoubled its offensive in the Donbas and is trying to take full control of the port city of Mariupol, where only a redoubt of Ukrainian soldiers, mostly from the Azov regiment, remain entrenched in the Azovstal steelworks