It has been more than half a year since Russia has invaded Ukraine with its superior military power. Recently, the situation has turned again. The Russian army is on the verge of collapse on the front line in northeastern Ukraine. The Ukrainian military announced a counter-offensive from the southern front at the end of last month, and has since regained some lost ground. Kyiv, Ukraine announced on the 10th that its troops had occupied a key logistics hub in the northeast in a lightning counteroffensive, and the Russian army admitted on the same day to withdraw its troops from the Kharkiv region.
According to comprehensive foreign media reports, the Ukrainian army recaptured two important places in eastern Ukraine, the city of Izium in East Kharkiv Oblast and the city of Lyman in Donetsk Oblast, from the Russian army. Moscow’s worst defeat since the Russian army was forced to withdraw from the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, could also be a decisive turning point in the Ukrainian-Russian war.
Hours after Moscow announced its withdrawal, Ukrainian troops occupied the town of Kupiansk further north, the only railway hub that provides logistical supplies to thousands of Russian troops on the front lines in northeastern Ukraine. On the 10th, Natalia Popova, adviser to the chairman of the Kharkiv Regional Committee, posted a photo of the Ukrainian armed forces raising the Ukrainian flag in front of the Kupyansk city hall through a social platform, confirming that Ukraine successfully recovered the city, including a Russian face. The flag was thrown to the ground.
The AFP news agency also quoted a Moscow-backed leader of the separatist region in the east as saying that Russian forces were fighting “difficult” battles with Kyiv troops in several areas east of Donetsk. Ukrainian special forces earlier posted photos on social media showing officers in camouflage uniforms and armed with automatic weapons in Kupyansk, before Russia announced the withdrawal of troops.
A Ukrainian official also said Ukrainian troops were closing in on the eastern city of Lysychansk, which was occupied by Russian forces after a heavy artillery battle in July. “It has been decided to regroup Russian troops stationed in the Balakliya and Izyum regions in order to strengthen the offensive on the Donetsk front,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Ukrainian foreign ministry spokesman Oleh Nikolenko pointed out on the 10th that Ukrainian troops have recaptured Kupiansk on the Oskil River, a city connected to the Russian railway from Kharkiv The interchange is also the main supply route to Izyum; and Kupyansk was recaptured by the Ukrainian army, which means that thousands of Russian troops on the front line in northeastern Ukraine may be isolated and helpless because of the cut off supplies.
According to the US “ABC News” report, when the Ukrainian armed forces are clearly advancing the front line south of Kharkov, the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov (Igor Konashenkov) claimed on the 10th that the Russian army will move from Balakia. The retreat with Igyum was to “regroup” and “turn forward” to Udondonetsk. However, the video of the Ukrainian army attacking the territory occupied by the Russian army was exposed online, showing that Russian weapons and ammunition were scattered everywhere, unlike Konashenkov’s words of “reorganizing the troops” and “turning in”.
Kupyansk, with some 27,000 people, fell in the first week of the Russian invasion on February 24. Ukrainian special forces stressed in a post that the people here “have been and always will be Ukrainians”. Observers expect the Ukrainian army to make further progress in the Kharkiv region on the border with Russia.
In addition, Illia Ponomarenko, a well-known military reporter from The Kyiv Independent, also released news this evening that two other important places of Russian support, Izum and Liman, were also recaptured by the Ukrainian armed forces. The Russian army on the front line will be on the verge of collapse within a few hours, happily exclaiming “I can’t believe my eyes”.