A Russian soldier wrote journal entries to his future self and family, envisioning an eventual break from war during the height of Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the northeast. entries were found in a notebook recovered at an abandoned Russian base in Kharkiv after Russian troops retreated from most of the region in September, Reuters reported.
Ukraine’s successful counteroffensive in northeastern Kharkiv kicked off in the late summer and intensified in early September. By mid-September, cities like Balakliia and Izium had been liberated, and Russian leadership announced that it was retreating from nearly all of the Kharkiv region, transferring troops elsewhere.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said within days of the September counteroffensive, Ukraine regained over 1,158 square miles of territory from Russian forces. In other documents obtained by Reuters, soldiers communicated with their superiors, urgently asking for basic munitions and drones.