Russian-installed official says Ukrainian soldiers outnumbered Russians

MOSCOW (Reuters) -A Russian-installed official in Ukraine's Kharkiv region said on Monday that Ukrainian forces had outnumbered Russian and pro-Russian forces by eight times during a lightning counteroffensive over the weekend.

Ukrainian forces overran the Russian supply hubs of Izium and Kupiansk over the weekend, Russia's worst military defeat since its forces were forced back from Kyiv shortly after President Vladimir Putin ordered troops into Ukraine.

Speaking to the state-owned Rossiya-24 television channel, Vitaly Ganchev said that Ukrainian forces had captured previously Russian-held settlements in the region's north, breaking through to the border with Russia, and that "about 5000" civilians had been evacuated to Russia.

Ganchev said "the situation is becoming more difficult by the hour", adding that the border with Russia's Belgorod region was now closed.

Reuters could not immediately verify battlefield reports.

Russia's Defence Ministry on Sunday published a map, showing that Russian forces had almost entirely abandoned the Kharkiv region.

In southern Ukraine's Russian-controlled Kherson region, where a slower-moving offensive has seen Kyiv's forces make modest gains in recent weeks, a Russian-installed official said there was no reason for concern.

"In Kherson there is no panic," said Kirill Stremousov in a video posted on Telegram, acknowledging that news from Kharkiv region had disturbed some pro-Russian locals.

The U.S.-based Institute for the Study of War on Monday reported increased Ukrainian progress in Kherson region, with Kyiv's forces drawing closer to Kherson city, after weeks of artillery bombardment has strained Russia's supply lines across the Dnipro river.

"It's calm. Possibly it's the calm before the storm, but we are ready to stand until the end and will not surrender our Russian city of Kherson to anyone", said Stremousov.

(Reporting by Reuters; editing by Guy Faulconbridge)