The prospect of a Ukrainian counterattack against positions held by the Russians in the southern part of the country has long been anticipated and discussed by both sides. But the sight of Ukrainian forces in recent days tearing down Russian flags and raising their colors over villages, towns and cities in the eastern Kharkiv region caught most people off guard, including – it seems – Russians. With little fanfare, Ukraine’s military has achieved its most significant gains since Russian troops were forced to abandon plans to seize the capital Kiev in late March. Its troops have – in a light advance – retaken hundreds of square miles of territory in the Kharkiv region that was previously under Russian control, including villages, towns and even cities. The triumphs followed a period of almost complete silence from Ukrainian commanders and political leaders on any military action. Access to the entire front line has been cut off for all journalists, except those connected to the Ukrainian military or the Ministry of Defense, since late August. It was part of a plan to limit the flow of information reaching the Russian side, potentially compromising the mission. The move underscored the importance of information, or in this case, withholding information, in time of war. Under the cover of this media blackout and bolstered by a flow of increasingly powerful Western weaponry, the Ukrainian military carried out its attacks. Read more: Royal Navy shadowing Russian warships Zelensky calls for nuclear demilitarization The calculated move took advantage of Russian weakness The launch of the much-heralded counter-offensive against the southern Kherson region was confirmed – with only minimal comment – on 29 August. But nothing was said about what appears to have been a calculated move against Russian forces in the Kharkiv region. The UK Ministry of Defense confirmed on Saturday that the Kharkiv operation had begun four days earlier. Moscow had moved thousands of troops into Kherson to bolster its flank in anticipation of a southern attack. But commanders appear to have left their lines in Kharkiv dangerously thin – a weakness the Ukrainians appeared to have noticed and exploited. Images of the attack in Kharkiv only began to emerge in the past three days from the social media channels of the troops involved in the operation and from journalists and other commentators who closely follow Russia’s war in Ukraine. The operation was going so badly for the Russians that even pro-Russian social media began to confirm the Ukrainian advances. As earnings strengthened, there were more official comments, including from the president of Ukraine. On Saturday, Colonel Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of the Ukrainian ground forces, also broke the cover. Subscribe to the Daily Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Spotify, Spreaker He stated in a video that the small town of Balaklia had been liberated and others would follow. The top commander mentioned Kupiansk – a key logistics hub for Russian forces, which helps support troops in the critical Donbas region in the southeast – as well as Izyium, an even more strategically important prize in the Kharkiv region. Then came an emergency announcement from the Russian Ministry of Defense, saying that its troops in Balakliia and Izyium were “regrouping” in the Donetsk region, a part of Donbass. A ministry spokesman tried to make it sound like the move was to focus on the stated military goals of Russia’s invasion – the “liberation” of Ukraine’s Donbas – as opposed to a hasty retreat. A similar kind of false explanation was offered in March to try to explain Russia’s failure to capture Kyiv in its attempt to strike with lighting in the first weeks of the war. Image: An abandoned Russian military vehicle in Hrakove village in Kharkiv The withdrawal of two key positions in the Kharkiv region signals once again that Ukrainian military prowess, will to fight and clever use of intelligence to control what is known about the battle have defeated the much stronger Russian army. The big question, however, is whether these rapid gains can be consolidated and this moment of success allowed to be sustained so that the recaptured land remains rightfully in Ukrainian hands.
