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Kharkiv retreat and the strikes on power
Summary
On 11 September 2022, as Russian forces pulled back across Kharkiv Oblast, missile strikes cut power and water across the north-east.
What did Russia's collapse in Kharkiv Oblast look like on 11 September 2022? It came as two developments at once: a rapid withdrawal on the ground and a wave of missile strikes on Ukrainian infrastructure.
Russian forces withdrew from most of Kharkiv Oblast that day, as the Russian occupation of the region collapsed. Ukrainian soldiers retook Chkalovske and Velykyi Burluk. The governor of Belgorod Oblast, Vyacheslav Gladkov, said that thousands of civilians were fleeing across the border into his region.
Strikes on infrastructure
Russia also launched Kalibr cruise missile strikes on critical infrastructure, including Kharkiv TEC-5. The attacks caused a total blackout and water shutdown in north-eastern Ukraine and in Kharkiv and Donetsk oblasts. Ukrainian officials confirmed that at least 40 electrical substations had been destroyed in the wave of strikes.
What came before
The advance had built over the preceding days. Ukraine launched the Kharkiv counteroffensive on 6 September 2022, in addition to the Kherson counteroffensive announced in southern Ukraine in late August. By 9 September, Ukraine claimed to have retaken more than 1,000 square kilometres of territory within a week.
On 10 September, Ukrainian troops retook Balakliia, Kupiansk and Izium. The Russian Defence Ministry confirmed the withdrawal of troops from several towns in Kharkiv Oblast, saying it was meant to let its forces regroup and reinforce the Donbas.
The cities had been captured by Russian forces after the invasion began on 24 February 2022. Russia had failed to take the regional capital, Kharkiv.
The fighting also continued elsewhere in the north-east. 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.
A day of contrasts
The events of 11 September 2022 set a battlefield reversal for Russia beside strikes on civilian utilities. Ground was being regained in Kharkiv Oblast, while the outages hit the north-east and the Donetsk region. Later, according to background accounts, Russia's occupation of Kharkiv Oblast shrank to a small portion of land from November 2022.
