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Ukraine Invasion Day 197: Zelensky Says Ukraine Forces Recaptured Places Near Kharkiv [1]
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Date: 2022-09-07
Ukraine counterattacked in Kharkiv Oblast near Balakliya and drove Russian forces back to the left bank (north side) of the Severskyi Donets and Serednya Balakliika rivers. Happy Military Intelligence Day.
Why Putin’s Failure in Ukraine will be as Momentous as Gorbachev’s in Russia -
https://t.co/jTDz0XbLVC https://t.co/TMNLkA5G4g
russian S-300s are blowing up near Balaklia, Kharkiv region. But there is no need to panic… as they say. pic.twitter.com/XeLltImGTs
Russia’s deployment of forces from Kharkiv and eastern Ukraine to Ukraine’s south is likely enabling Ukrainian counterattacks of opportunity. The September 6 Ukrainian counterattack in Kharkiv was likely an opportunistic effort enabled by the redeployment of Russian forces away from the area to reinforce Russian positions against the Ukrainian counteroffensive in Kherson Oblast. Obituary data on Russian servicemen indicates that Russia deployed elements of the 147th Artillery Regiment of the 2nd Motorized Rifle Division of the 1st Guards Tank Army to Kherson Oblast no earlier than late August.[14] This is the first time ISW has observed elements of Russia’s elite 1st Guards Tank Army operating in southern Ukraine. Elements of the 147th previously fought in Bucha in Kyiv in March and elements of the 1st Guards Tank Army were active primarily along the Kharkiv Axis after the Russian withdrawal from Kyiv.[15]
Russian forces likely no longer maintain their previous positions in Bairak and Nova Husarivka (just south of Balakliya on the right bank of the Seversky Donets River). Russian forces likely abandoned Bayrak and Nova Husarivka in late August. Images posted on August 30 show that Russian forces blew the bridge over the Seversky Donetsk River near Bayrak on an unspecified date.[12] Bridge demolition activity indicates a planned Russian withdrawal. Ukraine’s General Staff reported on September 6 that Russian forces conducted air strikes against Bayrak, indicating that Ukrainian forces may have advanced in the area.[13]
Ukrainian forces conducted a counterattack in Kharkiv Oblast near Balakliya that likely drove Russian forces back to the left bank (north side) of the Severskyi Donets and Serednya Balakliika rivers on September 6. Ukrainian forces likely captured Verbivka (less than 3 km northwest of Balakliya) on September 6.[7] Geolocated footage posted on September 6 shows Ukrainian infantry in eastern Verbivka (less than 3 km from Balakliya).[8] Multiple Russian sources acknowledged Ukrainian gains in Verbivka and reported that Russian forces demolished unspecified bridges in Balakliya‘s eastern environs to prevent further Ukrainian advances.[9] Images posted on September 6 also show a destroyed Russian bridge over the Serednya Balakliika River—a geographic feature behind which the Russian front line in this sector likely lies.[10] Social media users reported that Russian forces withdrew from checkpoints six kilometers west of Balaklia on September 6.[11]
I want to say one more thing today - it is very important and very sensitive. This applies to Ukrainians held captive by the occupiers. At the level of Ukrainian intelligence and other involved structures and people, we are constantly trying to achieve the liberation of our prisoners of war. This work never stopped. And the active actions of our defenders also mean the possibility of capturing a sufficient number of enemies to encourage the exchange and release of Ukrainian prisoners of war.
Each success of our military in one direction or another changes the general situation along the entire frontline in favor of Ukraine. The more difficult it is for the occupiers, the more losses they have, the better the positions of our defenders in Donbas will be, the more reliable the defense of Zaporizhzhia, Mykolaiv and the cities of the Dnipropetrovsk region will be, the faster we will be able to liberate the Azov region and the entire south.
I also express gratitude today to the 406th separate artillery brigade for the extremely successful hits in the areas where the occupiers are concentrated in the south of our country and to the 60th separate infantry brigade, which consistently advances our positions.
Now is not the time to name the settlements to which the Ukrainian flag returns. But it's time to say thank you to the 25th airborne brigade, the 92nd separate mechanized brigade and the 80th airborne assault brigade for their bravery and heroism shown during combat missions.
This week we have good news from the Kharkiv region. Probably, you all have already seen reports about the activity of Ukrainian defenders. And I think every citizen feels proud of our warriors. It is a well-deserved pride, a right feeling.
In the morning, I congratulated our intelligence officers, thanked them for their service, thanked Kyrylo Budanov, Head of the Main Intelligence Directorate, for the results Ukraine needs. Presented state awards to the best intelligence officers. And I believe that I will repeatedly award representatives of the intelligence community of Ukraine for their achievements, for operations that continue constantly, and for successes that help our Armed Forces and the entire state move towards the liberation of our entire land.
From now on, every year on September 7, Ukraine will celebrate Military Intelligence Day - a professional holiday of people whose contribution to our defense and future victory cannot be overestimated. Previously, we did not have such a holiday specifically at the state level, although military intelligence officers usually received congratulations on this day. I signed a decree that brings this day to a proper level.
Zelensky: “Russia has repeatedly sent killers to Europe under the guise of ordinary tourists"
One of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s advisers, Oleksiy Arestovych, said on Tuesday night that “lightning-fast changes are taking place” in the Kharkiv region, in parallel to the southern offensive in the Kherson region announced by Ukraine’s military last week.
Analysts have said that the initial target of the offensive could be the city of Kupyansk, a key road hub for Russian supplies heading south from the border into eastern Ukraine.
Unverified footage circulating on social media on Wednesday showed what looked like a Ukrainian soldier posing in front of an entrance sign for Balakliia.
“At this time, Balakliia is in operative encirclement and within the firing range of Ukrainian artillery. All approaches are cut off by fire,” he said, adding that a successful Ukrainian offensive would threaten Russian forces in Izium, a strategically important town that Russia has been using for its own offensive in eastern Ukraine.
“Today, the Ukrainian armed forces, after prolonged artillery preparation … began an attack on Balakliia,” Daniil Bezsonov said on Telegram.
An official representing the Russian-controlled Donetsk People’s Republic said on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces “encircled” Balakliia, an eastern town of 27,000 people situated between Kharkiv and Russian-occupied Izium.
Ukrainian Counteroffensives (Ukrainian efforts to liberate Russian-occupied territories)
Ukrainian military officials reiterated on September 6 that Ukrainian forces are targeting Russian logistics nodes, transportation assets, manpower and equipment concentrations, and control points across the Southern Axis.[16] Ukraine’s Southern Operational command stated that Ukrainian troops carried out over 150 fire missions in the direction of Kherson Oblast and specifically targeted Russian river crossings in critical areas.[17] The Ukrainian General Staff noted that these Ukrainian strikes are having significant impacts on Russian forces’ ability to conduct offensive operations.[18] Ukrainian officials are maintaining operational silence and did not provide specifics on Ukrainian ground movements in Kherson Oblast.
Social media footage taken by residents of Kherson Oblast on September 6 provides visual evidence of the continuing Ukrainian operational-level interdiction campaign. Ukrainian forces likely struck key Russian logistics nodes and military assets in three main areas on the evening of September 5-6: around Kherson City, in and around Nova Kakhkovka (55km due east of Kherson City), and deep in Russian-held rear areas in southern Kherson Oblast. Social media reports from within the Kherson City area include video claiming to capture the sounds of explosions from a strike on Russian positions in Chornobaivka, on the northern outskirts of Kherson City.[19] Geolocated imagery and satellite imagery from September 5 indicates that Ukrainian strikes likely destroyed the Darivskyi Bridge (about 15km northwest of Kherson City).[20] Residents reported the sounds of explosions after a Ukrainian strike on Russian equipment concentrations in and around Nova Kakhkovka, about 55km due east of Kherson City.[21] Residents also reported explosions and the activation of Russian air defenses over various areas south of the Dnipro River, including Hola Prystan (10km southwest of Kherson City), Kalanchak (65km southeast of Kherson City), and Chaplynka (80km southeast of Kherson City).[22]
Ukrainian and Russian sources reported kinetic activity in two main areas along the Kherson Oblast frontline on September 6- northwest of Kherson City near the Mykolaiv-Kherson border and in western Kherson Oblast along the Inhulets River that runs between Mykolaiv and Kherson Oblasts. The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian troops repelled an attempted Russian advance near Lyubomirivka, about 25km northwest of Kherson City.[23] Ukraine’s Southern Operational Command similarly noted that Ukrainian troops fought against Russian assaults near Schmidtove and Ternovi Pody, both about 25km north of Kherson City and along the Mykolaiv-Kherson Oblast border.[24] The frontline northwest of Kherson City is likely highly contested as Ukrainian troops attempt to push inwards toward Kherson City and Russian troops attempt to push outwards towards Mykolaiv City.
www.understandingwar.org/...
x Clearly not as rosy for the Russians in the Kherson area as they paint it in the Russian telegram channels.
As we find from this intercepted call, there is constant HIMARS shelling, jets leave to never come back, and bridges are under permanent danger of strikes and explosions. pic.twitter.com/FPmoxWvE3h — Dmitri (@wartranslated) September 6, 2022
Russian milbloggers discussed purported Ukrainian operations in western Kherson along the Inhulets River on September 6. One Russian source reported that Ukrainian forces are transferring reinforcements to the south bank of the Inhulets River but that Ukrainian troops have not been successful in pushing further south that Sukhyi Stavok (about 65km northeast of Kherson City).[25] Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian troops attempted to advance towards Bilohirka (4km northeast of Sukhyi Stavok) from the northwest across the Inhulets River and that fighting is ongoing in Kostromka (4km southeast of Sukhyi Stavok).[26] Russian sources also stated that Russian troops fired on Ukrainian positions around the Sukhyi Stavok pocket, which confirms that Ukrainian forces are holding positions there.[27] Several geolocated videos further confirm that Ukrainian forces have captured territory in northern Kherson near the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast border, namely around Olhyne, Visokopillya, and Novovoznesenske.[28]
The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) seemingly adopted a more tempered tone in its claims about the Ukrainian counteroffensive on September 6 and stated that Ukrainian troops are continuing attempts to attack in the Mykolaiv-Kryvyi Rih direction.[29] Since the start of the counteroffensive of August 29, the prose employed by the Russian MoD has typically been acerbic and intended to undermine Ukrainian actions and present the counteroffensive on whole as a failing. The more neutral tone of the Russian MoD’s September 6 statement may suggest that the Russian MoD seeks to avoid getting too far away from the discourse of Russian milbloggers, who have been reporting specifics of the counteroffensive in granular detail. The Russian MoD likely is unwilling to directly refute concrete claims made by military correspondents, and the more neutral approach to the Ukrainian counteroffensive affords the MoD a margin of error when discussing operations in Kherson Oblast that does not put it too badly at odds with milbloggers in the wider Russian information space.
www.understandingwar.org/...
x It looks like the Kharkiv Oblast break-in point chosen by Ukraine was so lightly held that any serious mechanized force would blow through it like tissue paper with no local reserves behind the lines to stop it.
This means the Ukrainian forces involved could be as small as
1/7
https://t.co/ePzp7vwgs3 — Trent Telenko (@TrentTelenko) September 7, 2022
@battle_order)
This points up a real problem with Russian intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) assets versus Ukraine's integrated air defenses.
2/7 ...a Ukrainian reinforced tank or mechanized brigade could be involved in this offensive. (H/TThis points up a real problem with Russian intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) assets versus Ukraine's integrated air defenses.
And Ukraine is Texas sized. (GMLRS/ATACMS map by @ameliairheart)
There is a lot of lightly
3/7 Russia has to be allocating its drone ISR assets across the whole of the vast Ukrainian front line – Kherson first first, then Donbass, then dribs to the rest of the front.And Ukraine is Texas sized. (GMLRS/ATACMS map byThere is a lot of lightly
The strong, unsuppressed, Ukrainian IADS requires a focused effort of a lot of Russian drones to penetrate in the numbers to
4/7 ...held front where Ukraine can set up a brigade sized heavy combat force for a break-in & mobile force exploitation against Russian logistics.The strong, unsuppressed, Ukrainian IADS requires a focused effort of a lot of Russian drones to penetrate in the numbers to
That didn't happen in the area where the Ukrainian Kharkiv Oblast mechanized force sprang from.
Russia's heavy drone losses meant they not only missed the attack force. None of the local Russian artillery units seem to have had any when the Ukrainian
5/7 ...effectively scout.That didn't happen in the area where the Ukrainian Kharkiv Oblast mechanized force sprang from.Russia's heavy drone losses meant they not only missed the attack force. None of the local Russian artillery units seem to have had any when the Ukrainian
People reviewing the videos coming from this Kharkiv Oblast offensive are not seeing Russian artillery fire that Russian Drone based ISR would have called down, if available.
6/7 ...forces rolled over them.People reviewing the videos coming from this Kharkiv Oblast offensive are not seeing Russian artillery fire that Russian Drone based ISR would have called down, if available.
Given the inability of VKS manned jets from operating inside of a Ukrainian IADS and the increasing scarcity of Russian drones.
Russian Army front lines will see more and more of these Ukrainian penetrations & mobile operations.
7/7
P.S.
Yes, I used a Russian IADS diagram. Ukraine uses Russian IADS weapons systems better than Russia.
x Lieutenant-Colonel! — Magnus Canis (@MagnusCanis2) September 7, 2022
x #Ukraine : #Kharkiv front:#UkrainianArmy advanced S. #Balakleya & recaptured Bairak & Nova Husarivka. Some kilometers north, troops reached the southern outskirts of Semenivka following #Russians withdrawal & opened a new axis towards Chkalovske, where clashes continue. pic.twitter.com/jvMN5Xpc6U — Ukraine News (@Ukrainene) September 7, 2022
x Ukrainian forces downed a Russian Su-25 over Volokhiv Yar, Kharkiv Oblast. Russian forces are trying to stop current Ukrainian advances with air assets, but I don’t think it’s too effective at the moment. pic.twitter.com/IzemfxkqU1 — OSINTtechnical (@Osinttechnical) September 7, 2022
x Welcoming Ukrainian Su-25 strike fighters returning from combat mission
📹
https://t.co/azhVjKyhsB pic.twitter.com/ZylXFzZm8y — Euromaidan Press (@EuromaidanPress) September 7, 2022
x “#Russian occupying forces launched eight missile strikes and ten air strikes on objects across #Ukraine on Wednesday. #Ukraine's defense forces, in turn, carried out 14 strikes on enemy strongholds and concentrations of manpower and equipment.”
https://t.co/xQGuX78j7G — David Soiza (@SoizaDavid) September 7, 2022
x Russia: Ukraine, Rocket strikes are carried out on targets in Kharkiv and the region. One of the strikes was preliminary to the Nemyshlyansky district...08-09-2022 pic.twitter.com/rA1tJnhzzX — Rowan Van Dijk (@Lastkombo) September 7, 2022
x A Ukrainian assault has started for Shevchenkove settlement tonight claimed by Russian news agency WarGonzo. A breakthrough from that settlement will give Ukraine a 28 km distance to the key city of Kupyansk. pic.twitter.com/bDS6HbUCRh — CaucasusWarReport (@Caucasuswar) September 7, 2022
x "Now the Russians have a big problem with human resources. They are trying to recruit a lot of people, but Putin, who does not want to declare war, cannot issue a mobilization decree. — FLASH (@Flash_news_ua) September 7, 2022
x Russian propaganda goes into full swing, threatening Europe with a freezing winter. Putin moves to the next stage of hybrid warfare: disrupting the stability of European households. Don’t be misled, Russia’s cuts of gas supplies have nothing to do with sanctions. It’s pre-planned — Oleg Nikolenko (@OlegNikolenko_) September 7, 2022
x How do you say "I am a gas station run by a mafia masquerading as a country" with a 2-minute video.
https://t.co/8LklhLxaoM — Christo Grozev (@christogrozev) September 7, 2022
Western leaders have remained largely unified in the face of Russian aggression, despite the economic pain tied to the jolting energy prices and sanctions, and worries about social unrest. But there were signs this week that Mr. Putin might be winning over new audiences. The United States and its allies have portrayed the war as a battle to uphold international law. But much of the world, including China, India and large parts of Africa and Latin America, either supports Russia or sees the war as a superpower conflict that it wants no part of. New polling conducted in 22 countries across the globe shows a wide divergence in popular support for Ukraine. The pollsters, who surveyed more than 21,400 people, found that 56 percent of respondents in India, 54 percent in Nigeria and 49 percent in South Africa agreed that Russia is “justified in wanting to have greater influence over its neighbor Ukraine.”
By contrast, 78 percent in Britain and 58 percent in both France and the United States disagreed, though in Germany, that figure was only 53 percent. And perhaps more striking, only 22 percent of respondents in the United States listed Ukraine as a top three global issue, despite enormous American financial and military aid for Kyiv.
The polls were commissioned by the Open Society Foundations, a grant network. www.nytimes.com/…
x Putin Dismisses Losses in Ukraine, Says Russia Is Gaining From War - The New York Times
https://t.co/qshMtsmZKC — Yamato Masahiro (@MiyakoJima72815) September 8, 2022
x "Russia is requesting a meeting of the UN Security Council on September 8 on the supply of Western weapons to Ukraine"
A desperate attempt which will achieve nothing. — WarMonitor🇺🇦 (@WarMonitor3) September 7, 2022
x "I put numbers on the boards."@PUSHA_T
Total combat losses of the enemy from Feb 24 to Sep 7: pic.twitter.com/mUC5NnLcpy — Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) September 7, 2022
x #UkraineWar: Overview of Russian equipment losses added on 07/09/2022
This time the list is so long that I had to split it :)
Full list:
https://t.co/wxuwtueKnD pic.twitter.com/BrO4QFHT1N — Jakub Janovsky (@Rebel44CZ) September 7, 2022
x I am not very good at graphics, but I tried to draw up an explainer for the Ukrainian Kupiansk Offensive:
Redish = the territory occupied by russia
• yesterday Ukrainian troops liberated Balakliia (Blue 1)
• during the night Ukrainian troops moved to Volokhiv Yar (Blue 2)
1/n pic.twitter.com/y1Fe1oiDst — Thomas C. Theiner (@noclador) September 7, 2022
• currently Ukrainian troops are advancing to Shevchenkove (Blue 3)
Once Ukrainian troops have firmly established themselves in these three settlements, the russian forces in the black hatched area must retreat North or will be crushed by Ukrainian forces.
2/n
Once the black hatched area is cleared Ukraine can move its M777 up and take the rail and road junctions, and russian supply depots in Kupiansk under fire.
The outer yellow rings show the range of M982 Excalibur rounds for precision strikes and the inner yellow rings show
3/n
the range of unguided M795 155 mm projectiles.
With Kupiansk (upper red circle) under artillery fire, the russian supply line to its forces around Izyum (lower red circle) becomes unusable.
If Ukraine then uses M777 fired Excalibur projectiles and M142 HIMARS fired M31A1
4/n
GMLRS rockets to take out the bridges over the Oskil river (the four purple pentagons) and whatever pontoon bridges the russians try to build, then the russian forces West of the Oskil river are trapped, just like the russian forces in Kherson.
5/n
This will give Ukraine two options how to finish the russians:
• either advance and take Kupiansk (Green 4) and then battle the trapped russians into surrender or
• leave an escape route for the russians between Shevchenkove and Kupiansk and then hammer them with
6/n
artillery, TB2 drones, and rocket artillery when they flee North.
The first option guarantees annihilation for 10,000+ russians, but will also cause many Ukrainian casualties, while the second will brutally decimate the fleeing russians, with minimal Ukrainian losses.
7/n
No matter what options the Ukrainians choose, the russian forces West of the Oskil are doomed, as putin doesn't have 5-6,000 fresh troops for a counter attack.
This offensive (like the Kherson Offensive) makes excellent use of rivers, and while the Kherson Offensive ensures
8/n
that russia can never launch an attack on Mykolaiv, the Kupiansk Offensive ensures that russia can never launch an attack on Sloviansk.
And with no chance to take Sloviansk, russia has also lost the Battle of Donbas.
putin is a moron, and now all can finally see that.
9/end
• • •
x The headquarters of "United Russia" was blown up. 💥🔥💨Mayor Ivan Fedorov reports this:
"One more step away from the pseudo-referendum.
Today's 💥 in Melitopol are a minus of another headquarters of "United Russia" which was captured by the occupiers.
https://t.co/17dxpADmtr pic.twitter.com/ddHg9jDk73 — LX #NAFO (@LXSummer1) September 7, 2022
x The referendum in support of being part of an independent Ukraine. Crimea was the only place it was even close. UK left the EU on a slimmer margin. pic.twitter.com/Imt0NCzSFP — HistoryDon (@charters_don) September 7, 2022
KYIV, Ukraine, February 6 (UNHCR) - The UN refugee agency reported on Friday that fighting in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk region is creating new displacement and pushing the number of registered internally displaced people (IDP) close to the 1 million mark.
Ukraine’s Ministry of Social Policy puts the number of registered IDPs countrywide at 980,000 - a figure that is expected to rise as more newly uprooted people are being registered. In addition, some 600,000 Ukrainians have sought asylum or other forms of legal stay in neighbouring countries, particularly the Russian Federation, but also Belarus, Moldova, Poland, Hungary and Romania, since February 2014.
Spokesman Adrian Edwards told journalists in Geneva that UNHCR teams were reporting that heavy fighting in the Donetsk region over the last two weeks has resulted in massive destruction of buildings and infrastructure and in the collapse of basic services.
“Local authorities have begun to evacuate people from conflict areas, but many are still trapped by the fighting, including in basements and buildings under constant bombardment. The evacuations are being organized by the government helped by local volunteers,” he said.
More than 2,800 civilians, including about 700 children and 60 people living with disability, have been evacuated from the towns of Debaltseve, Avdiivka and Svitlodar, which have seen fierce combat. Several incidents of shelling of buses carrying the evacuees have been reported.
The Ukrainian government has said it is concerned that areas close to the frontline, which are also under heavy shelling, will not be able to accommodate the new arrivals. Therefore, people will have to be moved further away to central, southern and western parts of the country.
Evacuees are being taken to government-controlled towns to the north of Donetsk such as Slovyansk, Sviatohirsk, Kramatorsk and Grodivka, as well as to the nearby Kharkiv region. They are being transported in cars and buses and, in the case of the most vulnerable, by train. Some evacuees are temporarily accommodated in train carriages at the railway station in Slovyansk, awaiting onwards transportation.
Apart from the organized evacuations, civilians continue to flee the conflict areas by their own means, facing numerous dangers along the way. “As more homes and other civilian infrastructure is damaged or destroyed, UNHCR expects more people to be displaced to areas in central, southern and western Ukraine under the control of the Ukrainian government, but also to non-government controlled areas in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions,” Edwards said.
www.unhcr.org/...
x R.H.Wade(professor of Global Political Economy at the LondonSchool of Economics):'Why the US &Nato have long wanted Russia to attack Ukraine(.)While nothing can excuse Russia’s invasion, the Kremlin has effectively fallen into a trap laid by the US &Nato'
https://t.co/DQmGAWZXyn — Jos Teunissen (@JosTeunissen2) September 7, 2022
x Was just talking with a NATO officer about the Russian Army and asked him how long it would take the Finnish Army to seize St Petersburg. He said, ‘not long, only problem they’d face is that the Poles would get there first.’ — Phillips P. OBrien (@PhillipsPOBrien) September 7, 2022
[END]
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