Ukraine has gone on the offensive against Russia as Kyiv's military has retaken the city of Balakliia, Kharkiv Oblast, and has advanced 50 kilometers into previously Moscow-occupied territory.
In a briefing, Brigadier General Oleksiy Gromov, a representative of Ukraine's general staff, claimed that Ukrainian forces have recaptured "700 square kilometers" since their attack on the Kharkiv front, in northern Ukraine, began earlier this week. The official added that "more than 20 settlements have been liberated" as a result of the offensive.
Ukraine's Offensive
If the claim is confirmed, it would be a major victory for the Ukrainian military, which is currently making advances against occupying Russian troops on a number of fronts. Moscow's positions have been under attack in southern Ukraine around Kherson, the north near Kharkiv, and the eastern Donbas region.
The Kremlin's troops made an unsuccessful attempt to seize Kharkiv, which is Ukraine's second biggest city, in the opening weeks of the conflict. Gromov said that the Ukrainian military currently has wedged itself into the enemy's defense to a depth of 50 kilometers, as per Newsweek.
The official noted that the total area of the territory that has been retaken by Ukrainian military troops in the Kharkiv and Yuzhno-Buz directions is more than 700 square kilometers. Gromov declined to list the settlements that Ukraine recaptured, instead reiterating that the country has had "successes in a number of directions."
A joint piece by Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, head of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, and parliamentarian Mykhailo Zabrodskyi was published on Wednesday. It argued that Ukraine could retake the Crimean peninsula in 2023.
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According to Yahoo News, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the liberation of Balakliia, publishing a video message from military personnel. Ukrainian defenders on Sept. 8 published photographs and videos from the city, which Russia controlled for six months.
Retaking Captured Territories
The situation comes after weeks of stalled fighting in and around the eastern Donbas region, with the stalemate being broken by Ukrainian troops. Kyiv's forces threatened to cut vital supply lines for the Kremlin's assault.
The Ukrainian force pushed on two fronts, striking both east toward Kharkiv and south toward Kherson, putting the Russian forces on the back foot. Moscow moved troops south when the big punch came in the east. An advisor to Ukrainian President Zelensky, Tymofiy Mylovanov, said that his understanding was that the military was pushing everywhere.
The quick succession of military advances by Ukraine in the past several days, including into Balakliia and Shevchenkove, has caused surprise among higher-ups in Kyiv. They expected the lighting offensive to move more slowly. Colin Kahl, the U.S. Defense Department's policy chief, on Wednesday, referred to the movements as an "offensive."
Kahl said, "They've done a lot of damage to the Russian forces" near Kherson, adding that the Ukrainian military said it recaptured more than a dozen settlements in the Kharkiv region. A researcher at the Swedish Defense University, Oscar Jonsson, said that the situation was Ukraine cleverly spotting thin Russian lines with bad opportunities for redeployment, coupled with new, longer-range capabilities that can impact Russian forces, Foreign Policy reported.
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