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Kharkiv Oblast: what Russia's withdrawal signalled
Summary
A look back at the Ukrainian advance in the north-east and the Russian announcement that followed.
What did it mean when Russia's Defence Ministry confirmed, on 10 September 2022, that its troops were leaving several towns in Kharkiv Oblast? The ministry described the move as a regrouping that would allow its forces to reinforce the Donbas. On the same day, Ukrainian troops retook Balakliia, Kupiansk and Izium from Russian occupation.
The advance
The offensive in Kharkiv Oblast began on 6 September 2022. It was a second counteroffensive, launched in early September after Ukraine had announced the start of its Kherson counteroffensive in the south in late August. By 9 September, Ukraine claimed to have retaken more than 1,000 square kilometres of territory previously occupied by Russia within the preceding week.
What was at stake
Russian forces had occupied Balakliia, Kupiansk and Izium after the invasion began on 24 February 2022. They had failed to capture the oblast's capital, Kharkiv. By 10 September, all three towns that had been held since the early stages of the war were reported as retaken by Ukrainian troops.
Two accounts of the same events
The Russian ministry's wording, which spoke of regrouping and of reinforcing the Donbas, framed the pullback as a deliberate redeployment. The Ukrainian account, set out in the claim of more than 1,000 square kilometres regained in a week, described territory being retaken. Both accounts agreed on one point: Russian troops were leaving towns in Kharkiv Oblast.
Fighting elsewhere in the north-east
The violence was not confined to the zone of the counteroffensive. On 9 September, the governor of Sumy Oblast, Dmytro Zhyvytskyi, said Russian forces had shelled a hospital in Velyka Pysarivka, causing an unspecified number of casualties. The incident showed that, even as front lines moved in Kharkiv Oblast, shelling continued in neighbouring border areas.
Looking back
The events of 10 September 2022 marked a turn in the north-east. Later, according to the background, Russia's hold on Kharkiv Oblast shrank further: from November 2022, it occupied only a small portion of the oblast's land.
