'We prayed to be liberated': Inside a city recaptured by Ukraine after months of Russian occupation

Burned-out tanks and trucks emblazoned with Russia's signature 'Z' symbol lie at the side of the road, gutted and red with new rust. A collapsed bridge is covered in signs warning of landmines. Further along, the wreckage of a car is left alongside a destroyed petrol station surrounded by the debris of shelling.

These are the signs of Ukrainian victory and, for now, a Russian rout.

As CNN became the first international television crew to enter Izium since the Ukrainians retook it on Saturday, the team encountered a city just waking...