The Ukrainian army has recaptured more than a thousand square kilometers from the Russian forces since the beginning of September, said President Volodymyr Zelenskyi on Friday evening.
Saana Uosukainen,
Simo Ortamo
16:55•Updated 19:41
In recent days, it has been reported that Ukraine’s counterattack has progressed at a fast pace. It has not been possible to ensure the reliability of all information. We compiled the last assessments of the situation.
1. Progressed several tens of kilometers in the Kharkiv area
During the last few days, Ukraine has regained large areas in the Kharkov region on the east side of the city. Its troops have advanced tens of kilometers in a short time.
President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyi said last night that Ukraine had taken over 30 population centers in the Kharkiv region. He said that Ukraine had taken back up to 1,000 square kilometers in the south and east from the Russian forces since the beginning of September.
Today, British intelligence estimates that Ukraine probably surprised Russia in the Kharkiv area.
According to the report, the counterattack has advanced up to 50 kilometers, and several cities have been captured during it. The Russian defense line was obviously thin, military intelligence assumed.
Authority of the occupation administration of the Kharkiv region appointed by Russia Vitalj Hantsev said yesterday, Friday, in an interview on Russian state television, that Russia plans to evacuate civilians from the three cities it captured in the Kharkiv region.
Hantsev said that civilians would be evacuated from the towns of Izjum, Kupyansk and Veliky Burluk in case of a Ukrainian counterattack.
On Saturday, Reuters also presented footage from the village of Hrakove in the Kharkiv region, which Ukrainian forces reportedly recaptured. The village near Chuhujiv was under the control of Russian forces from the end of February.
Finnish activists too tracking website (you switch to another service) according to the Ukrainian counter-offensive east of Kharkiv is progressing quickly.
2. Ukraine says it has captured Kupyansk, Russia withdraws from Izjum
Over the course of the day, more information has become available about the population centers occupied by Ukraine and Russia’s withdrawal.
Ukrainian forces said on Saturday afternoon that they had captured the city of Kupyansk in eastern Ukraine, which is an important transport hub and supply route to the city of Izjum.
According to the website of Finnish activists, in addition, Ukraine would have expanded its attack from Kupyansk both north and south.
According to the site, the Ukrainians have also taken control of the small town of Senkove, near which there is one of the few bridges crossing Oskiljoe. Neither Ukraine nor neutral media have confirmed the advance to Senkove.
The Russian Ministry of Defense, on the other hand, said a few hours later that Russia is withdrawing its forces from Balakliya and Izjum, the Russian state news agency Tass reports.
According to the Ministry of Defense, the forces in Balaklija and Izjum region have regrouped and moved to strengthen the direction of Donbas.
The Ukrainian Kyiv Post claims that Ukrainian forces have already captured Izjum. In the picture it published on Twitter (you will switch to another service) Ukrainian troops pose in front of a concrete structure with the text Izjum. So far, Ukraine has not confirmed the capture of the city.
Already in the morning, the British military intelligence reported in its report that the Russian forces in Izjum had become isolated at the same time as Ukraine threatened the city of Kupyansk, which is important for the maintenance of the Donbas front.
Russian forces have come under increasing pressure both on the northern and southern fronts of the Ukrainian war, British military intelligence continued.
3. In Kherson, the aid received from abroad brought profits
US defense officials on Friday spoke for the first time about Ukraine’s actions in September as a counterattack. In the past, representatives of the US military and the Ministry of Defense have avoided using the expression in question.
According to the US Department of Defense, Ukraine’s counteroffensive in the Kherson region that began at the beginning of September has shown that the Ukrainian armed forces have creatively applied the weapons capacity received from the United States and other allies.
The matter was commented at a press conference by a senior Pentagon official of the US Department of Defense Sasha Baker, news CNN (you will switch to another service)on their website.
– But Russia is a significant opponent, and I think there is a long battle ahead, Baker said at the event.
Read more about the events of the last few days related to the Russian attack in Ukraine in our continuous monitoring article.
Corrected on 10.9. at 19:00 the subtitle of the story. President Volodymyr Zelenskyi told about the territorial occupations on Friday night, not Thursday night.
Added on 10.9. at 19:34 information about Russia’s announcement of withdrawal and Kyiv Post’s claim that Izjum had been taken over.
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