The rapid offensive of Ukrainian troops in the Kharkiv region does not slow down. After taking control of Balaklia, the state flag was raised in Kupyansk, there is also information about the possible quick release of Izyum.
Ukrainian authorities officially returned to de-occupied Balaklia this week. Today, the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration Oleg Synegubov raised the national flag.
"Balakleia is Ukraine! Today, together with the military, led by the commander of the Ground Forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi, they raised the Ukrainian flag," he said.
Today it became known that it was Syrskyi who was responsible for the operation to liberate Balaklia. Obviously, the offensive caught the Russian invaders by surprise.
It has also officially become known that another large city in the Kharkiv region - Kupyansk - has been liberated from the Russian occupiers. The defense forces took it under control, and a photo with the Ukrainian flag went viral on social networks.
The information was confirmed by Oleksiy Stepanenko, a deputy of the Dergachyv city council.
"The armed forces of Ukraine entered Kupyansk, Kharkiv region. Ukrainian military with the battle flag of the 1st mechanized battalion of the 92nd OMBr," he wrote on the social network and attached a photo.
This city is an important railway center, and all Russian logistics in the area were connected precisely to the rails, not to the roads.
Ukrainian law enforcement immediately began work in Kupyansk. Two collaborators were informed about the suspicion in absentia. According to the investigation, the new "head" of the local forest farm and the chief accountant of the enterprise agreed to voluntary cooperation with the occupiers. Currently, both are hiding in uncontrolled territory.
Data on the advancement of Ukrainian troops promptly reflects the services that monitor the situation on the ground. According to the Deepstatemap maps, on the eve of the Armed Forces liberated the village of Borivske in the Kupyansk direction and expanded the gray zone near Shevchenko. Thus, the defense forces, simultaneously with the offensive on Kupyansk and in the direction of the Oskol River, are pushing out the occupying forces from the southwest.
According to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), along with the liberation of Kupyansk, Ukrainian forces will advance on Izyum from the northwest, north, northeast, and southeast. It is expected that the armed forces will focus on severing Russian land lines of communication with Izyum.
As of yesterday, the occupiers were still trying to direct resources to the Kharkiv-Izyum line to stop the advance of the Armed Forces. Meanwhile, the Ukrainian side damaged the Kupyansk bridge over the Oskol River, and also allegedly advanced west of Kupyansk in the direction of the Russian logistics hub in Veliky Burlutka.
The same ISW noted in a recent report that the defense forces have liberated about 2,500 square kilometers in the Kharkiv region and may soon surround the enemy's Izyum group. According to British intelligence, the Ukrainian advance on Izyum definitely took the Russians by surprise.
"Russian troops were probably caught off guard. The sector was poorly held, and Ukrainian units occupied or surrounded several towns," the report says.
The British side came to the conclusion that the Russian forces around Izyum are threatened with complete isolation. However, already in the afternoon of September 10, the occupying authorities announced their retreat from the city after carrying out an alleged "evacuation" of the population yesterday. At the moment, only the so-called "Deputy Minister of Information of the DPR" Danylo Bezsonov confirmed the withdrawal of Russian troops.
Although in the near future good news is indeed expected from Izyum. The head of the President's Office, Andriy Yermak, published a grape emoji in his Telegram, as if hinting at the liberation of an important point from a military point of view, from which the Russians exerted pressure, in particular, on the Ukrainian group in Donbas.
According to still unconfirmed data, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have reached the northern outskirts of Izyum, and the enemy is retreating beyond the Oskol River. A video of the Ukrainian military at the entrance to the city is already circulating on the Internet. And the Russian mass media write that, in addition to this, our troops are advancing in the direction of Vovchansk, where the "administration" of the Russians was taken. Thus, it is not excluded that the operational plan includes an exit to the border with the Russian Federation in the north-east of the Kharkiv region.
Elements of Ukrainian 25th Airborne Brigade reached the northern entrance of Izium, #Kharkiv Oblast. #UkraineRussiaWar pic.twitter.com/r20PzskkGX
— MilitaryLand.net (@Militarylandnet) September 10, 2022
