Kharkiv counteroffensive, 2022

The battle, stage by stage

1. 5 September 2022

   Before the blow

   Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022. By early September Russian forces held a wide arc of Kharkiv Oblast: the border districts and Vovchansk, the east bank of the Pechenihy Reservoir, the towns of Balakliia (occupied from 3 March), Kupiansk (from 27 February) and Izium (from 1 April), and, to the south-east, Lyman (from 27 May). Izium was the base of the northern pincer against Sloviansk; Kupiansk, a rail junction on the Oskil River, supplied it. Russia had moved forces south to meet Ukraine's announced Kherson counteroffensive (ISW, 7 Sep). Around Balakliia, according to FDD's Long War Journal, the front line was held by poorly trained Luhansk and Donetsk 'people's republic' units with two Rosgvardia units behind them; Reuters later analyzed documents left by the 11th Army Corps in Balakliia showing that by the end of August two units, about a sixth of the force, were at 20% of full strength, and the Balakliia force as a whole at 71% (30 Aug). Units north-east of Kharkiv and at Kupiansk are not named in our sources. (Sources: ISW; Long War Journal 16 Sep 2022; Reuters via Babel; Norwegian Helsinki Committee. Front traces are schematic and not corroborated to the two-map standard.)

2. 6-8 September 2022

   Breakthrough at Balakliia

   On 6 September Ukrainian forces attacked west and north of Balakliia; ISW reported geolocated footage of Ukrainian infantry in eastern Verbivka, under 3 km from the town. Armor broke through toward the road junctions at Volokhiv Yar and Shevchenkove, largely bypassing Russian strongpoints (Long War Journal). Ukrainian control of Balakliia was confirmed on 8 September; the Kraken unit of Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) raised the flag there, and the Russian-installed occupation administration admitted the next day that the town was essentially out of its control. By the evening of 8 September Ukrainian troops had reached the outskirts of Shevchenkove from two directions, possibly leaving a cut-off Russian pocket near Chkalovske (Militaryland). On 9 September President Zelensky praised the 25th Airborne, 80th Air Assault and 92nd Mechanized Brigades. Russia's Defense Ministry did not acknowledge the losses. (Sources: ISW 6-9 Sep; Long War Journal; Ukrainska Pravda 8-10 Sep; Novaya Gazeta Europe 9 Sep; Militaryland 8 Sep, from released footage. Partly corroborated: ISW plus geolocation.)

3. 9-10 September 2022

   Kupiansk reached

   Pressing east from Shevchenkove, Ukrainian forces reached the southern outskirts of Kupiansk on 9 September, shown by a geolocated image on the R79 highway (ISW); strikes had likely put the Oskil bridge out of use. On the morning of 10 September the Kharkiv regional council announced that the city had been retaken, the flag went up over the city council, and Ukraine's security service published photos of its special forces in the city; the 92nd Mechanized Brigade was photographed there. ISW assessed that Ukrainian troops held the western half, with Russian forces withdrawing to the east bank. Russian sources reported Ukrainians on the Oskil at Senkove, and Velykyi Burluk was taken on 10-11 September. ISW put the penetration at up to 70 km and more than 3,000 sq km retaken in five days. According to Long War Journal, elements of the 90th Guards Tank Division arrived too late to stop the advance. (Sources: ISW 9-10 Sep; Ukrainska Pravda; Ukrainian News; Kyiv Independent 10 Sep; Long War Journal. Corroborated: ISW plus geolocation.)

4. 10-12 September 2022

   Withdrawal from Izium

   With its supply lines through Kupiansk cut, Russia's Defense Ministry announced on 10 September that troops stationed in Balakliia and Izium would 'regroup' to the Donetsk direction; ISW said the claim of a planned, three-day withdrawal had 'no relation to the situation on the ground.' The 25th Airborne Brigade posted video at the entrance to Izium, and an officer of the 95th Air Assault Brigade filmed the central square (Babel, 11 Sep). In the north, a Ukrainian flag was photographed in Vovchansk around 11 September (the border guard service confirmed the town retaken on 13 September), and Ukrainian troops reached the Russian border on the 11th; a Russian Defense Ministry map that day showed only a strip east of the Oskil still under Russian control (Meduza). Ukraine confirmed control of Sviatohirsk on 12 September. UK Defence Intelligence said the 1st Guards Tank Army had taken part in a disorderly withdrawal and would take years to rebuild. Oryx documented at least 338 Russian vehicles and weapons lost on 7-11 September across all fronts (Oryx does not separate by front), more than 200 of them abandoned in Kharkiv Oblast (via Mediazona). (Sources: ISW 10 Sep; Kyiv Independent; Babel; Meduza; Militaryland 11 Sep; UK MoD 13 Sep. Corroborated: ISW plus both sides' statements and video.)

5. 23-28 September 2022

   Across the Oskil, around Lyman

   Russian forces tried to hold a line east of the Oskil; Rochan Consulting's Konrad Muzyka reported positions about 10 km east of the river. On 23 September UK Defence Intelligence said Ukraine had secured bridgeheads on the east bank and was attacking Lyman. Kharkiv's governor Oleh Syniehubov announced on 27 September that Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi, the rail junction on the east bank, had been retaken, and geolocated footage showed Ukrainian flags in Kivsharivka (ISW, 28 Sep). Around Lyman, geolocated footage confirmed Ukrainian troops in Zelena Dolyna, about 15 km north, and in Novoselivka to the north-west, while Russian sources reported attacks near Yampil to the south-east and toward Torske, threatening the Svatove-Lyman road. On 30 September Russia announced its annexation of four Ukrainian regions, including Donetsk Oblast; the UN General Assembly later called the move invalid (Resolution ES-11/4, 12 October 2022). (Sources: UK MoD via Kyiv Independent 23 Sep; Ukrainska Pravda 27 Sep; ISW 28 Sep; Moscow Times 13 Sep. Corroborated: ISW plus geolocation.)

6. 1 October 2022

   Lyman retaken

   Ukraine's Eastern Group spokesman Serhii Cherevatyi said on 1 October that the Russian group at Lyman, which he put at about 5,000 troops, was surrounded, and listed Yampil, Novoselivka, Shandryholove, Drobysheve and Stavky as retaken (RFE/RL). Hours later Russia's Defense Ministry said its troops had withdrawn to 'more advantageous lines' because of the threat of encirclement. The 81st Airmobile Brigade said it had taken the town together with National Guard units and the Kulchytsky battalion and raised the flag on the administration building (LB.ua); ISW confirmed geolocated footage of Ukrainian troops across the town and reported that the BARS-13 detachment had fallen back from Drobysheve to Kreminna. How many Russian soldiers escaped is unknown. Borova, on the Oskil reservoir, followed on 3 October. Ukraine's Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Maliar had put the ground retaken in Kharkiv Oblast since 6 September at about 8,500 sq km and 388 settlements by 14 September. (Sources: ISW 1 Oct; RFE/RL 1 Oct; LB.ua 1 Oct; Ukrainska Pravda 1 Oct; Ukrinform 14 Sep. Corroborated: ISW, geolocation and both sides' statements.)