JRL NEWSWATCH: “Ukrainians Move to Unravel Russian Occupation in Recaptured Villages; Residents have wasted no time in erasing the marks of Russia’s presence” – WSJ
“… Within days, Moscow lost more territory than it … gained in months of grinding combat … more than 3,500 square miles … as Ukrainian forces seized the initiative. … [M]ost were celebrating[;] those who collaborated with the Russians were lying low … or … on the run. … In towns and villages retaken by Ukraine, residents … wasted no time … erasing the marks of Russia’s presence. Where the Russians painted their tricolor on signs and bus stops, locals … restored the blue and yellow of the Ukrainian flag. A billboard declaring ‘We are one with Russia’ was torn down … reveal[ing] verses by Ukraine’s national poet … Shevchenko underneath. … [I]t is … [Russia’s] biggest setback since … pull[ing] back from … Kyiv[] in March to reveal hundreds of bodies buried in mass graves or strewn in the street. …”