As of: 09/11/2022 7:53 p.m
Strengthened by the withdrawal of the Russians from the Kharkiv region, the Ukrainians are pushing ahead with their counter-offensive in the north-east. Successes are also reported from southern Cherson. Kremlin supporters have criticized the Russian military leadership.
After Russian troops withdrew from the Kharkiv region, Ukrainian troops continued their counter-offensive in the north-east and south of the country. Governor Oleh Synyehubov said more than 40 places in Kharkiv were back under Ukrainian control. He could not give an exact number because the operation is still ongoing. Ukrainian military chief Valeriy Saluschnyy said that since the counteroffensive began in early September, around 3,000 square kilometers of land have been recaptured. Some associations are still about 50 kilometers from the Russian border.
On Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that it would “regroup” its forces from parts of the Kharkiv region further south to the Donetsk region. Spokesman Igor Konashenkov said the soldiers would be transferred from Balakliya and Izyum to the Donbass “in order to achieve the goals set for the military special operation to liberate Donbass”. However, observers saw this as an attempt to save face despite the hasty retreat, during which many weapons and ammunition had to be left behind.
Today, the Russian ministry showed the extent of the withdrawal on a map at the daily briefing: According to this, the Russian army only controls a small part in the east of the region east of the Oskol river. At the briefing the day before, the map had indicated a much larger area as being under Russian control.
Ukraine continues to report land gains
This news was received with euphoria in Kyiv – and the willingness to take back other occupied areas was confirmed. Two-thirds of the recaptured areas were recaptured in a very short time, said Ukrainian General Staff spokesman Oleksandr Shtupun. “The end of the occupation in Ukraine continues. In total, in the last few days we have liberated about 2000 square kilometers of Ukrainian territory from Russian occupation. Our units have advanced to Kupyansk and are in the process of liberating towns in the Kupyansk and Izyum regions of the Kharkiv region .”
Masses of photos and videos of the army are circulating online, in which Ukrainian soldiers, for example, remove Russian symbols, hoist blue and yellow flags or pose in front of place-name signs. A video shows soldiers hoisting the Ukrainian flag in Chkalovske. “From Kharkiv we not only advanced south and east, but also north,” Zalushnyi said on Telegram.
conflicting parties as a source
Information on the course of the war, shelling and casualties provided by official bodies of the Russian and Ukrainian conflict parties cannot be directly checked by an independent body in the current situation.
Russians are also said to withdraw from Cherson
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyi hailed the Russian withdrawal as a breakthrough in Russia’s six-month war of aggression. “I think this winter is the turning point and it can lead to the quick liberation of Ukraine,” said Zelenskyy on Saturday evening. “We see them fleeing in a few directions,” the president said, referring to Russian forces. “If we were a little stronger with weapons, we would be able to move even faster.”
According to information from Kyiv, after their defeat in the eastern Ukrainian region of Kharkov, Russian troops are also withdrawing from parts of the southern region of Cherson. In some places, the occupiers have already left their positions there, the Ukrainian general staff said. In the city of Nowa Kachowka, the Russian soldiers had cleared a hospital in order to hole themselves up in it, it was said. This information could not be independently verified.
Clear criticism from Russian ally
Chechen President Ramzan Kadyrov, who is loyal to the Kremlin, blamed mistakes by the Russian military leadership for the withdrawal from Kharkiv: “They made mistakes and I think they will draw the necessary conclusions,” he said on Telegram, referring to the military leadership.
“If they don’t make any changes to the military special operations strategy within the next day or two, I will be forced to contact the Defense Ministry leadership and the country’s leadership to explain the real situation on the ground,” Kadyrov continued . Observers took his statements as a sign of possible tensions within the Russian ranks.
Nationalist Russian commentators and military bloggers also spoke of a bitter defeat and called on the Kremlin to step up the war effort. Among other things, it was criticized that a city holiday was celebrated on Saturday despite the military debacle in Moscow, during which President Vladimir Putin inaugurated a new Ferris wheel, among other things. “The fireworks in Moscow on a tragic day of Russian military defeat will have serious political consequences,” pro-Kremlin political scientist Sergei Markov wrote on Telegram.
With information from Andrea Beer, WDR, currently Kyiv