KYIV: Ukraine said troops defending the country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, had repelled Russian forces and advanced as far as the border with Russia.

       Reuters could not immediately verify Ukraine’s battlefield account and it was not clear how many troops had reached the Russian border and where.

       If confirmed, it would suggest a Ukrainian counter-offensive is having increasing success in pushing back Russian forces in the northeast after Western military agencies said Moscow’s offensive in the Donbas region had stalled.

       Demoralised Russian troops had failed to make substantial gains and Moscow’s battle plan was “significantly behind schedule”, UK Defence Intelligence said yesterday.

       It added that Russia may have lost one-third of the ground combat forces it committed in February and was “unlikely to dramatically accelerate” its advance in the next 30 days.

       Ukraine’s defence ministry said in a Facebook post yesterday that the 227th Battalion of the 127th Brigade of Ukraine’s armed forces had reached the border with Russia, adding: “Together to victory!”

       Kharkiv region governor Oleh Sinegubov wrote on the Telegram messaging app that troops of the 227th Battalion had restored a sign on the state border.

       “We thank everyone who, risking their lives, liberates Ukraine from Russian invaders,” Sinegubov said.

       Ukraine has scored a series of successes since Russia invaded on Feb 24, forcing Russia’s commanders to abandon an advance on the capital Kyiv before making rapid gains around Kharkiv. — Agencies