Ukraine’s secret strategy behind the success in Kharkiv

The Russian forces in the Kharkiv region have lost momentum.

In three days, Ukrainian forces have retaken over a third of the occupied parts of the region.

According to Ukraine’s special forces, it is a detailed plan that is behind the success, writes The Guardian.

Ukrainian forces continue to make unexpected and rapid advances in the Kharkiv region.

Ukraine has switched from defensive to offensive warfare, which has yielded good results. Ukrainian forces are said to have taken control of a third of the occupied parts of the region in three days.

Russia has even admitted that the Russian troops have fallen behind.

But what is behind the Ukrainian successes? According to sources such as The Guardian spoke to, the recipe for success consists of, among other things, disinformation campaigns, a “regime of silence” and surprise attacks.

“Panicted and fled”

At the end of August, Ukraine launched a much-publicized counter-offensive in the southern parts of the country.

According to Ukraine’s special forces, the counter-offensive was a disinformation campaign aimed at distracting the Russian forces from the real offensive – the one in the Kharkiv region.

– The offensive was carried out in the place where Russia least expected it, which led to them panicking and fleeing, claims Taras Berezovets, press officer within the Ukrainian military.

At the beginning of the week, Ukraine announced that it had launched offensives in several directions in the southern parts of the country. But they were very tight-lipped about the details and referred to a “regime of silence”. Journalists were temporarily banned from visiting the front lines in Kherson, while at the same time reporting on the southern offensive was extensive.

According to Taras Berezovets, this was a planned and coordinated disinformation campaign on the part of Ukraine. Berezovets believes this prompted Russia to move military equipment and personnel to the southern front.

Civilian Ukrainians working for Russia

Part of the plan involved getting rid of pro-Russian informants in the Ukrainian-controlled parts of Kharkiv.

This is to eliminate the risk that Russia would get wind of Ukraine’s strategy work, according to a military source with insight into the operation.

– There were almost no informants left. They were mainly ordinary Ukrainian civilians. But there were also undercover Russian agents, according to the source.

The Expert: Will keep fighting

Russia’s Ministry of Defense has confirmed the Russian retreat in Kharkiv, but they believe it is a realignment. Russian militia units have left Balakleja and Izjum and are said to be regrouping in the Donetsk region.

According to Zelensky, Ukraine has regained control of more than 30 settlements in Kharkiv. Many of them have been occupied by Russia since the first days of the invasion.

That Ukraine regained control of the areas may be one of the most important Ukrainian successes since the beginning of the invasion. The city has served as the center of the Russian combat units in the region.

Russia expert Hugo von Essen believes many Russians have begun to question the point of the six-month invasion, given recent defeats. But that doesn’t mean the end of the war is near, according to von Essen.

– I believe that the Russian army will continue to fight, even if things are getting worse and worse. With major Ukrainian reconquests and ever-worsening morale and capacity on the Russian side, he says.