Ukraine predicts more battlefield successes as Putin’s generals face public backlash

Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video address on Thursday that Kyiv's forces recaptured more than 500 sq. km of territory and dozens of settlements in the southern Kherson region alone in October

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv's forces were swiftly recapturing more territory, especially in the south while Moscow's military leadership faced rare public backlash from within Russia over its handling of the war.

Mr. Zelensky said in a video address on Thursday that Kyiv's forces recaptured more than 500 sq. km of territory and dozens of settlements in the southern Kherson region alone in October.

"There are successes in the east as well. The day will surely come when we will report on successes in the Zaporizhzhia region (in southeastern Ukraine) as well, in those areas that the occupiers still control," Mr. Zelensky said.

Reuters could not independently verify battlefield accounts.

Russian President Vladimir Putin marks his 70th birthday on Friday as the invasion of Ukraine has begun to unravel after a Ukrainian counteroffensive in which thousands of sq. km of territory have been retaken since the start of September.

Thousands of Russian troops have retreated after the front line crumbled, first in the northeast, and, since the beginning of this week, also in the south.

In rare, but growing, public criticism of Russia's top military officials, Kirill Stremousov, the deputy head of the Russian-backed administration in the Kherson region, slammed "generals and ministers" in Moscow for failing to understand the problems on the front lines.