– I am happy when I see the pictures from Kharkiv county. news meets Irina Salopova in the city of Zaporizhzhya in southeast Ukraine, in Ukrainian-controlled territory. She recognizes herself when she sees what looks like cheering people meeting Ukrainian soldiers who are liberating one town after another. What is happening now in the Kharkiv region looks like the most successful counteroffensive by the Ukrainian forces so far in the more than six-month war. Iryna Salopova watches videos of Ukrainian forces in the Kharkiv region, together with news’s Morten Jentoft Photo: Lokman Ghourbani/news She herself is from the town of Pryazovske, which was occupied by the Russian forces on the first day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24 2022. There she has worked as a teacher at the school, a school where the students are now forced to put away their Ukrainian textbooks in favor of Russian ones. In June, she chose to flee to government-controlled territory, simply because she did not want to live under what she describes as a Russian reign of terror. Now she hopes that the Ukrainian forces will soon move into her hometown, in the same way as they do in Kharkiv county a little further north here in the eastern part of Ukraine. BIG OFFENSIVE: The axes of advance in the last four days are marked with red lines. Retaken Kupjansk and Izyum The city of Kupjansk has for many months been pointed to as a key to winning parts of the war in eastern Ukraine. The Russian forces that have been pressuring the Ukrainians in the north of Donbas were supplied through Kupjansk. – Kupyansk will most likely fall, wrote the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) in its latest analysis of the war in Ukraine. On Saturday, there will be a number of confirmations that Ukrainian forces have taken the city. DECLARING VICTORY: Twitter message on Saturday morning from the Ukrainian newspaper Kyiv Post stating that the battle for Kupjansk is over. Photo: KYIV POST/Twitter An important train line from Russia passes through Kupyansk. – If they cannot use this line, the Russian forces in this area will not get the supplies they depend on. They can still get something by road, but it is not nearly enough, explains head teacher at the War College, Palle Ydstebø to news. CONFIRMED: The Ukrainian offensive is confirmed by independent analysts who study videos appearing on social media. They find geographical features that they can place on a map. Photo: Julian Röpcke/Twitter/Google Earth Blitzkrieg The Ukrainian offensive began with local attacks south of Izyum on 4 September. The main attack came elsewhere on September 6. A large Ukrainian force supported by tanks and artillery stormed east north of the town of Balaklija. The city itself quickly fell. Pictures show Ukrainian forces raising the Ukrainian flag over the administration building in Balaklija. RELEASED: This photo of Ukrainian soldiers has been geolocated to the town of Balaklija. The city was behind the Russian front line just three days ago. Photo: Ukraine MoD «» On Friday 9 September, these forces had reached as far as Kupjansk and Izyum. It is an advance of 70-80 kilometers in four days. – There is a complete breakdown in the Russian front section, says Ydstebø. Reports in the Russian and Ukrainian media on Saturday morning indicate that Izyum has also fallen. In addition, the Russian troops are said to have withdrawn from the town of Lyman. EXPLOITATION: The situation as reported in a pro-Russian channel on Telegram on Friday. The Ukrainians have moved in quickly and deeply. Photo: Rybar/Telegram Exploited the situation – This is the first example of exploitation in this war, writes military expert Phillips P. O’Brien on Twitter. Exploitation is using a military advance to achieve something more, something that lasts. Typically a breakthrough in a front line that gives you the opportunity to advance far. ACHIEVED IT: Head teacher at the War College, Palle Ydstebø, believes the Ukrainians have now achieved what the Russians failed to do during the invasion in February. Photo: Mathias Moene Rød / news – Such an offensive is most vulnerable when the troops are on the move. Now it has been going on for several days without the Russian forces making a counter move. If the Ukrainians dig in now, it will be very difficult to drive them back, explains Ydstebø. The Ukrainians broke through the front line and continued their advance through poorly defended points. Many of the Russian soldiers will belong to police forces that are not trained in regular warfare. The Ukrainians are said to have gone around Russian departments and isolated them. The Ukrainians have spread both north and south of the main axis that runs east. TRIBUTE TO THE SOLDIERS: Ukrainian civilians cheer as armored vehicles from the Ukrainian Defense Forces move into a city that has been occupied by the Russians. Photo: Ukraine MoD Well planned The Ukrainian forces participating in the attack are well-equipped regular soldiers from the army. They are supported by cooperative units such as armored forces, artillery and air defense. Heavy equipment such as T-72 tanks, M270 rocket artillery and Buk air defense systems have been observed with the advancing troops. – This is something the Ukrainians have been planning for a long time. It seems well organized. They are achieving what the Russians were unable to achieve during the invasion in February. They manage to coordinate the infantry with the cooperative units, says Ydstebø. – Difficult situation, admits the Russians’ allies According to the head of the local government installed by the Russian occupying power, the situation in Kupjansk on Friday afternoon was “difficult”. This was reported by the Russian news agency Ria Novosti, which quotes an interview Maksim Gubin gave to the television channel “Rossija 24”. – But the Russian forces are holding their positions, the city is in a relatively safe situation, Gubin claimed in the interview. The situation was still no safer than the fact that the Russian-backed authorities put all their efforts into evacuating the local population “until the situation stabilises”. Some are sent to rebel-held Luhansk county, while others are transported by buses across the border to Russia, according to Gubin. Russian reinforcements Ria Novosti this afternoon also publishes a video allegedly showing armored vehicles, artillery and tanks on their way to the Kharkiv region. It doesn’t say where they come from or where they were filmed. But in the last few days, several Russian bloggers have published critical messages on the Russian messaging service “Telegram”. – Two units from Rosgvardia at Volokhiv Jar have been completely surrounded for over a day, wrote the sender “Notes from the veteran” two days ago. The Russian messaging service Telegram is used by both Russians and Ukrainians in the ongoing war. Photo: Telegram Rosgvardia is the Russian National Guard, an umbrella organization established by order of President Putin in 2016. Another well-known blogger on Telegram, “Starsje Eddy”, writes about being surrounded by Balaklija and the Ukrainian advance towards Kupjansk. – We will see how the Russian General Staff responds and what level of operational skills they are able to demonstrate, he writes ironically. Many may die In Zaporizhzhya, it is nevertheless with mixed feelings that Iryna Salopova sees that the war in Ukraine is now raging in full swing again. – I have a brother who is in the army, she says, and says that she has several acquaintances who have given their lives in defense of the fatherland. Iryna Salopova hopes she can soon return to her job as a teacher in her home town of Pryazovske Photo: Lokman Ghorbani/news She also hears from her aunt who lives in the battle area that there is shooting everywhere, both night and day. And like millions of Ukrainians, she knows that there will be a high price to be paid in the form of dead and wounded before it is possible to take back Pryazovske and all the other parts of the country that Russia has occupied.
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