Russia announces troop pullback from Ukraine’s Kharkiv area

Ukrainian police work during the exhumation of unidentified bodies of people killed by the Russian troops in the village of Grakovo, freed by the Ukrainian army two days ago in the Kharkiv region (AP)

Russia’s defence ministry said it is pulling back forces from two areas in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region where a Ukrainian counter-offensive has made significant advances in the past week.

Defence spokesman Igor Konashenkov said the troops would be regrouped from the Balakliya and Izyum areas to the Donetsk region. Izyum was a major base for Russian forces in the Kharkiv region.