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What Ukraine's Kharkiv advance looked like on 9 September 2022
Summary
A look back at a day of reported territorial gains in Kharkiv Oblast and a reported strike on a hospital in Sumy Oblast.
How far had Ukraine's counter-offensive in the north-east come by 9 September 2022? By that date Ukraine was claiming to have retaken more than 1,000 square kilometres of territory previously occupied by Russia within the preceding week.
A reported breakthrough in Kharkiv Oblast
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 to have captured many towns and cities, including Balakliia. The claim of more than 1,000 square kilometres, made on 9 September, put a figure on the gains of the Kharkiv counter-offensive.
Shelling in Sumy Oblast
The same day brought a report of violence elsewhere in the north-east. The governor of Sumy Oblast, Dmytro Zhyvytskyi, said Russian forces had shelled a hospital in Velyka Pysarivka. He reported casualties but gave no number.
Sumy Oblast was among the northern regions Russian forces entered when they crossed the border on 24 February 2022. That offensive in northern Ukraine was initially launched as an attempt to capture Kyiv, the capital and seat of the Ukrainian government.
The picture on 9 September
Taken together, the reports from 9 September 2022 showed two sides of the fighting in the north-east. In Kharkiv Oblast, Ukraine said it was recovering ground quickly. In Sumy Oblast, civilian infrastructure was reported to be coming under Russian fire, with a hospital among the places hit.
