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Kharkiv advance and a shelled Sumy hospital
Summary
A look back at 9 September 2022, when Ukraine claimed large territorial gains in the north-east while shelling struck a hospital in Sumy Oblast.
What did Ukraine's advance in the north-east amount to by 9 September 2022? By that date, Ukraine said it had retaken more than 1,000 square kilometres of territory previously occupied by Russia, all within the preceding week.
The gains were part of the Kharkiv counteroffensive. On 7 September 2022, Ukrainian forces were reported to have broken through Russian defences in Kharkiv Oblast and advanced more than 30 kilometres into Russian-held territory. They were said to have captured many towns and cities, among them Balakliia.
A hospital under fire
The same day brought a reminder of the war's reach beyond the Kharkiv front. The governor of Sumy Oblast, Dmytro Zhyvytskyi, said Russian forces had shelled a hospital in Velyka Pysarivka. He reported casualties but did not give a number.
Sumy Oblast was one of the northern regions Russian forces entered on 24 February 2022, when the invasion began from across the Russian and Belarusian borders. The initial operations in the north were launched as an attempt to capture Kyiv.
Two fronts, one day
Taken together, the reports from 9 September 2022 showed two different pictures. In Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine described rapid movement and recovered ground. In Sumy Oblast, civilian infrastructure was being hit by shelling, with a hospital among the reported targets.
The territorial figure was Ukraine's own claim, made within days of the breakthrough reported on 7 September 2022. The scale of the advance, more than 30 kilometres in the reported breakthrough, was what set the week apart.
