Ukrainian forces have penetrated Russian lines to a depth of up to 70 kilometers in some places and captured over 3,000 square kilometers of territory in the past five days since September 6 – more territory than Russian forces have captured in all their operations since April, the Institute for Study of War writes in its latest report.
Ukrainian forces will likely capture the city of Izium in the next 48 hours, ISW estimates. The liberation of Izium would be the most significant Ukrainian military achievement since winning the Battle of Kyiv in March, eliminating the Russian advance in northwest Donetsk Oblast and destroying significant numbers of Russian troops, the Institute says.
The Ukrainian successes in are Kharkiv Oblast is routing Russian forces and collapsing Russia’s northern Donbas axis. They are also wreaking havoc in the Russian information space, as the Russian military command refuses to acknowledge defeat and frames the withdrawal of its forces as a planned operation, and TV propagandists lack a coherent explanation of events.
They are also alienating the Russian milblogger and Russian nationalist communities that support the Kremlin’s grandiose vision for capturing the entirety of Ukraine.
Ukraine’s counteroffensive near Kharkiv: what enabled the Balakliia blitzkrieg
