Russia’s Ministry of Defense stated on Saturday that it is withdrawing troops from two districts in eastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region where a Ukrainian counteroffensive has achieved substantial gains over the previous week.
The news followed days of apparent Ukrainian advances south of Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, in what could be the greatest battlefield victory for Ukrainian forces since they thwarted a Russian attempt to seize the capital of Kyiv at the beginning of the nearly seven-month-long conflict.
Igor Konashenkov, a spokesperson for the Russian Ministry of Defense, said on Saturday that troops would be relocated from the Balakliya and Izyum regions to Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk province. Izyum was a key Russian outpost in the Kharkiv region, and earlier this week, social media images showed people of Balakliya applauding wildly as Ukrainian troops pushed in.
Konashenkov added that the Russian action is being taken “to meet the stated objectives of the special military operation to free Donbas,’” which is one of the territories of eastern Ukraine that Russia has declared sovereign.
Russia’s reason for withdrawing its soldiers from the Kyiv region earlier this year, after it failed to seize the Ukrainian capital, is comparable to its justification for withdrawing its forces to focus on Donetsk.
Saturday morning, Ukrainian officials claimed significant advances in a counteroffensive against Russian forces in the Kharkiv region, claiming that Ukrainian troops had cut off key supplies to Izyum.
Oleh Nikolenko, a spokesman for the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry, also reported that Ukrainian forces had recaptured Kupiansk, a town on the key supply route to Izyum that had been a focal point on the Russian front line and the location of intensive artillery and other action. Nikolenko posted a photograph of soldiers in front of a government building in Kupiansk, 73 kilometers (45 miles) north of Izyum, on Twitter.
Several hours later, the Ukrainian Security Service uploaded a statement claiming to display its forces in Kupiansk, further suggesting the city had been captured by Ukrainian military. The Ukrainian military did not immediately confirm taking the city, which Russia captured in February and is a major railway hub.
Videos on social media purported to show Ukrainian military stationed at a roadside roadblock on the outskirts of Izyum. In the footage, a big statue bearing the city’s name could be seen. Ukrainian forces denied possession of the city.
The British Defense Ministry told reporters earlier on Saturday that it believed the Ukrainians had pushed up to 50 kilometers (30 miles) south of Kharkiv and that Russian forces around Izyum were becoming “increasingly isolated.”
The sector was relatively lightly defended, and Ukrainian infantry had overrun or surrounded many towns, the British military stated, adding that the loss of Kupiansk would have a significant impact on Russian supply lines.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington, D.C.-based think tank, also cited vast Ukrainian gains, claiming that Kyiv has gained over 2,500 square kilometers (965 square miles) of territory in its eastern breakthrough. According to the institute, it looked that “disorganized Russian forces” were captured by the quick Ukrainian advance, citing social media photographs of apparent Russian detainees captured in the offensive around Izyum and its environs.
According to the same article, Ukrainian forces “could collapse Russian positions surrounding Izyum if they cut Russian ground communications north and south of the town.”
Vladislav Sokolov, the leader of the local government assigned by Russia, announced on social media that Izyum authorities have begun evacuating citizens to Russia.
The battle in eastern Ukraine coincides with an ongoing attack in and around Kherson. Analysts believe that Russia may have moved troops from the east to reinforce the area surrounding Kherson, allowing the Ukrainians to attack a weakened front line.
Oleksii Reznikov, the Ukrainian minister of defense, told Ukraina television that Russia’s troops in the region lacked food and fuel because Kyiv had severed their supply lines.
He predicted a Russian counterattack by comparing it to an avalanche. “One line of defense will tremble and collapse.”
The Ukrainian military was more conservative about the claimed gains, asserting on Saturday that it had captured “more than 1,000 square kilometers” (386 square miles) of territory from pro-Kremlin fighters in the past week. It stated that “in some regions, units of the Defense Forces have penetrated the enemy’s lines to a depth of 50 kilometers,” which was consistent with the British estimate, but geographical details were not disclosed.
Officials in Kyiv have been tight-lipped for weeks about plans for a counteroffensive to reclaim territory seized by Russia in the early stages of the conflict, advising locals not to share any information on social media.
However, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced on Friday that since the beginning of the counteroffensive, Ukrainian army have recaptured over thirty communities in the Kharkiv region.
Zelenskyy stated, “We are steadily regaining control over more settlements, returning the Ukrainian flag, and protecting our people.”
He commented after the governor of Kharkiv, Ukraine, confirmed that the Ukrainian flag had been hoisted over Balakliya, a city regained by Ukrainian forces on Thursday after six months of Russian control.
Governor Oleh Syniehubov stated on Telegram, “Today, together with the military, commanded by the commander of the Ground Forces Oleksandr Syrskyy, we raised the Ukrainian flag.”
Overnight, Ukrainian emergency services reported that a 62-year-old woman was murdered in the Kharkiv region by a Russian missile strike when her home was destroyed.
Syniehubov also accused Moscow of bombarding Ukrainian-retaken communities. In a Telegram message, he stated that five civilians were hospitalized in the area of Izyum, while nine more were injured elsewhere in the region.
In the conflict-torn Donbas region south of Kharkiv, the Ukrainian governor said that Russian shelling near Bakhmut, a main target of the delayed Russian operation, killed and wounded residents overnight. Pavlo Kyrylenko died via Telegram that two people were killed and two others were injured in Bakhmut and the nearby town of Yahidne.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock made a surprise visit to Kyiv on Saturday, stating that Europe would not weary of assisting Ukraine despite Russian President Vladimir Putin’s efforts to increase the pressure by withholding energy supplies from European Union states.
Baerbock stated that Germany will assist Ukraine in locating and removing mines and other explosive ordnance left behind by Russian troops in regions where Ukrainian forces had forced them back.
Despite the achievements made by the Ukrainian military, U.S. Friday, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the head of NATO issued a warning that Ukraine’s conflict with Russia might continue on for months. Blinken stated that the fight was entering a crucial phase and asked Ukraine’s Western supporters to maintain their aid throughout what may be a terrible winter.
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