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What the Kharkiv advance showed by 9 September 2022
Summary
A look back at reports of Ukrainian gains in Kharkiv Oblast and renewed shelling in Sumy Oblast.
How far had Ukraine's counteroffensive in the north-east moved by 9 September 2022? Kyiv claimed on that date to have retaken more than 1,000 square kilometres of territory previously occupied by Russia within the last week.
The breakthrough
Two days earlier, on 7 September 2022, Ukrainian forces had reportedly broken through Russian defences in Kharkiv Oblast. They were said to have advanced more than 30 kilometres into Russian-held territory and captured many towns and cities, including Balakliia. The 9 September claim of more than 1,000 square kilometres put a figure on that advance, though it was a Ukrainian claim.
Fighting beyond Kharkiv
The war was also continuing elsewhere in the north. On 9 September 2022, the governor of Sumy Oblast, Dmytro Zhyvytskyi, said Russian forces had shelled a hospital in Velyka Pysarivka and that there were casualties, though he gave no number.
Sumy Oblast was one of the regions that Russian forces entered from the north on 24 February 2022. The operations there were initially launched as part of an attempt to capture Kyiv.
What the day showed
The reports from 9 September 2022 pointed to two contrasting pictures. In Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine was claiming a rapid advance over a short period. In Sumy Oblast, Russian shelling was still reported to be hitting civilian infrastructure, in this case a hospital. The claimed gains were measured in square kilometres, while the shelling in Velyka Pysarivka was reported with no casualty figure.
