After a powerful Ukrainian counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region, Russia announced on Saturday the “regrouping” of its forces, which are withdrawing to the Donetsk region. The Russian Ministry of Defense assured in a statement that this decision has been carried out to “achieve the objectives of the special military operation.” Ukraine’s first successful offensive since the conflict began may have severed Russian supply routes and threatened to cut off its troops.
Moscow is silent about the successes of the enemy advance. According to his version, the Russian troops deployed in eastern Ukraine have carried out maneuvers with which, in addition to saving their soldiers, they have inflicted heavy damage on the enemy. “It has been decided to regroup the Russian forces deployed in the Balaklya and Izium regions to reinforce efforts” around Donetsk, the most important city of the pro-Russian separatists in Donbass. The Ministry of Defense pointed out that during the last three days its armed forces “annihilated more than 2,000 Ukrainian and foreign combatants, one hundred armored vehicles and artillery pieces.”
This statement came shortly after the Ukrainian government announced great progress in its counteroffensive in the Kharkiv province, in the east of the country. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that his troops had liberated more than 30 towns in two days.
Russian media on Friday showed images supplied by the Defense Ministry showing columns of trucks, armored vehicles and artillery heading for Kharkiv to “reinforce” its troops deployed there. The pro-Russian chief in Kharkiv, Vitali Ganchev, admitted the loss of the city of Balakleya. And yesterday he recommended the population of the disputed areas to evacuate to save their lives.
Ukrainian forces said yesterday that they had entered the city of Kupiansk, 120 kilometers southeast of Kharkiv and whose railway junction was key to the Russian forces’ supply routes. In the morning, Ukrainian military posted on social media photos of their troops with the Ukrainian flag (blue and yellow) in front of the city hall. Russian bloggers said yesterday that Moscow troops had left the town. But the Russian Defense Ministry did not confirm this information.
The Ukrainian authorities did not immediately confirm the seizure of Izium. But Andriy Yermak, Zelensky’s bureau chief, tweeted a grape emoji. The word “izium” in Russian and Ukrainian means “raisins”. Russian forces seized Izium, which then had a population of 45,000, shortly after entering Ukrainian territory in February, and have since used it as a logistics hub to try to occupy the Donetsk region from the north.
Denís Pushilin, head of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic (DPR), acknowledged yesterday in a video on Telegram that the situation was “difficult” in the city of Liman, east of Izium, “as well as in a number of towns in the north of the Republic”.
The Ukrainian advance may also reach the other Donbass region controlled by pro-Russian separatists, Luhansk. Yermak posted a fox emoji, referring to Lisichank, the last major city in that province to be taken by Russian troops, in early July.
