The counterattack of the Ukrainian army against the lands held by Russia in late August, after a long preparation with the support of the Western countries, left the Russian troops in a difficult position. The fighting continues in the Kharkov province in the northeast, the Donbas region in the east, and the Kherson and Zaporozhye provinces in the south.
SLOW PROGRESS IN HERSON
The counterattack by the Kyiv forces at Kherson at the end of August is progressing slowly. An important reason for this is that the Russians saw Kherson as the gateway to the Crimea, and made a large concentration in this region. The Ukrainian forces are trying to render the bridges that the Russians receive supply support unusable with the HIMARS missiles sent by the USA before they can directly attack Kherson. Ukraine’s Defense Minister, Oleksi Reznikov, said that one reason for Ukraine’s slow progress in Kherson is that there are many water channels in the region and the Russians use them as a defensive line. Ukrainian forces have so far captured 13 settlements, mostly villages, in Kherson province from the counterattack.
The unexpected development for Russia was the counterattack near Kharkov. The Ukrainian army made a sudden attack here at the beginning of September and in a short time took back the strategically important cities such as Balaklaya, Kupyansk and Izyum. The Russian Ministry of Defense stated that the Russian forces there had withdrawn to support the Russian forces in Donbas. However, Russia’s occupation commander in Kharkov province said in a statement that the number of Ukrainian forces in the region was eight times more than their own, so they withdrew. Parallel to this, along with the Russian army, a large civilian population that has cooperated with them is crossing into Russia. President Volodymyr Zelenski also announced that an area of 6 thousand square kilometers in Kharkov was recaptured from Russian troops.
INTERPRETATION OF RUSSIAN EXPERTS
In the east, in the Donetsk province, Ukrainian forces captured the settlement of Svyatogorsk. However, it is stated that getting results here will be more difficult.
On the other hand, the Russians carried out missile attacks on various infrastructure facilities in eastern Ukraine. As a result, it was stated that electricity, water and public transportation services could not be provided for a long time in many cities in the east, including the second largest city of Ukraine, Kharkov. Russian experts say that this shows what the Kremlin can do if it is overtaken.