On 6 September 2022, the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a major counteroffensive against the Russian military during the Russo-Ukrainian war. As Ukraine announced the start of the Kherson counteroffensive in southern Ukraine in late August, Ukrainian forces also began a second counteroffensive in early September in Kharkiv Oblast, in eastern Ukraine.
As the Ukrainian military broke through Russian defensive lines, it recaptured multiple cities in a matter of days. On 7 September, the second day of the counteroffensive, the Ukrainian military advanced over 20 kilometres (12 mi) into Russian-held territory. The next day, Ukraine recaptured Balakliia and Shevchenkove as Russian forces withdrew and fled. On the 9th, Russia began announcing for evacuations in nearby areas as the Ukrainian military continued its advance. The next day, Ukraine retook the key cities of Izium and Kupiansk, securing access to the Oskil River. By the 11th, Ukraine successfully advanced up to 70 kilometres (43 mi) from the pre-counteroffensive front line. In turn, Russia's defence ministry announced the withdrawal of all forces west of the Oskil.
The pace of the counteroffensive then began to slow, but continued until early October. By 13 September, the Ukrainian military continued advancing and crossed the Oskil River. Fighting continued over the next two weeks as Ukraine advanced and recaptured smaller villages. By 26 September, Ukraine retook Kupiansk-Vuzlovyi on the east of the Oskil, securing its presence on both sides of the river. By late September, Ukraine began encircling the city of Lyman before capturing it on 1 October.
During the offensive, Ukraine retook over 500 settlements and 12,000 square kilometers of territory in the Kharkiv region. This blitzkrieg disrupted Russian supply lines and significantly hindered its operations in the war. It also served as a morale boost for Ukraine, as it continued to receive Western military aid during the war.
Background
During the early days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russian forces captured much of eastern Kharkiv Oblast, including the towns of Kupiansk, Shevchenkove, and Balakliia: Shevchenkove came under Russian occupation on 26 February 2022, Kupiansk on 27 February, and Balakliia on 2 March. According to Viktor Aleksieiev of Holovne v Ukraiini, Russian operations in this region were initially of an auxiliary nature: to cut off Kharkiv from the south and southeast, separating it from the most combat-ready Ukrainian units in the Donbas and ensuring its capture by Russian forces advancing from its north. After abandoning the plans to capture Kharkiv, Russian forces used Izium to attack the Donbas from the north.
From March to early May, most of the fighting in Kharkiv Oblast was concentrated in the cities of Kharkiv and Izium. In early April, Russian forces captured Izium, and Ukrainian forces successfully defended Kharkiv by early May. After that, the frontline began to stagnate as Russia and Ukraine focused their efforts on the cities of Sievierodonetsk, Lysychansk and the wider Donbas region. Russian troops began accumulating in Izium, as Russian command intended for it to serve as a base as part of a large operation to surround Ukrainian forces in the east; Syrskyi estimated that as many as 24 battalion tactical groups numbering about 18,000 troops were at one point based in the city and its surrounding area.
Throughout July and August 2022, Ukrainian and Russian media both amplified claims of a Ukrainian counteroffensive in Kherson Oblast. By August, the number of Russian battalions in Izium had decreased by at least one-half, amid a redeployment of Russian forces to Kherson. Ukraine's operation in the south finally culminated on 29 August 2022. The counteroffensive saw slow progress, with Ukrainian forces suffering heavy losses and facing a stiff Russian resistance. However, on 6 September, Ukrainian forces launched a surprise counteroffensive in eastern Kharkiv oblast, with fighting for Balakliia beginning on the first day.
Russian offensives in the first months of its invasion of Ukraine left large swathes of Kharkiv Oblast under Russian control, including the key logistical nodes of Izium, Kupiansk, Shevchenkove, and Balakliia. However, the majority of the oblast remained within Ukrainian control, including the city of Kharkiv, where the Russian military continuously bombarded with rockets, artillery, and cluster munitions until August.
Ukrainian forces held off Russian advances towards Kharkiv, then launched counteroffensives in March and May pushing the Russians from the outskirts of the city. By 6 June, the Russian bombardment of Kharkiv had killed 606 civilians and injured 1,248 according to Amnesty International.
The battle lines in Kharkiv Oblast remained largely static over the next few months as Ukrainian and Western military analysts believed Russia lacked the ground forces to renew its offensive. The Kharkiv death toll exceeded 1,000 by August.
By September 2022, Oleksandr Syrskyi, who had been in charge of the defense of Kyiv at the beginning of the invasion and later received the title of Hero of Ukraine for his service, was appointed to command the Ukrainian land forces in Kharkiv Oblast. The counteroffensive was performed under his command, and Syrskyi is considered to be its architect. Since spring 2022, Syrskyi had been considering the possibility of an offensive operation north of Balakliia and Izium which would threaten Russian forces in both cities with encirclement. In the summer, the Ukrainian General Staff called for its commanders to propose diversionary operations to draw Russian forces away from the defense of Kherson, and Syrskyi submitted his idea.
Syrskyi's plan called for a fast-paced advance that avoided direct attacks on towns and cities to avoid casualties. Just before the operation was launched, every attacking brigade was supplied with at least eight M777 howitzers.
Prelude
After weeks of Ukrainian propaganda about an imminent counteroffensive in southern Ukraine, Russia redeployed thousands of troops to Kherson Oblast, leaving its remaining troops manning a "stretched and tired Russian front that spanned some 1,300km – roughly the distance from London to Prague."
The arrival of US-supplied HIMARS guided-rocket artillery enabled Ukrainian forces to strike up to 70 kilometres (43 mi) behind Russian lines, targeting Russian bases and ammunition depots as far back as Kupiansk and Kivsharivka in the weeks preceding the eastern counteroffensive. These strikes further weakened Russian logistics and morale. On 5 September, the Ukrainians claimed to have killed or wounded 100 Russian soldiers and destroyed two combat vehicles in a strike on Kupiansk.
On 29 August, Ukraine announced it would soon launch an offensive in the Kherson region of southern Ukraine. Ukrainian units attacked soon after, and Russia's attention shifted to its Kherson line. While the Kherson offensive might have been genuine, Western analysts view it as part of a ploy to divert Russian forces away from Kharkiv prior to Ukraine's much larger eastern counteroffensive. In any case, Russian forces in Kharkiv were left understrength and unprepared in the days preceding 6 September.
Russian authorities postponed annexation referendums in Russian-occupied Ukraine on 5 September 2022 due to security concerns.
Counteroffensive
First phase (6–12 September 2022)
Initial advance
On 6 September 2022, Ukrainian forces launched a counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region, taking Russian forces by surprise. In a 10 September interview with the Guardian, Ukrainian special forces spokesman Taras Berezovets stated Russia "thought [the counteroffensive] would be in the south... then, instead of the south, the offensive happened where they least expected, and this caused them to panic and flee."
Elements of Ukraine's 25th Airborne Brigade began advancing just past 3:30 a.m. on 6 September, after several hours of Ukrainian artillery fire on Russian positions. Throughout the day, units of the 25th Brigade advanced at least 11 miles (18 km), reaching the village of Volokhiv Yar, located at a strategic road junction.
On 7 September, units of Ukraine's 112th Territorial Defense Brigade began storming Russian positions in the village of Mykolaiivka, thus launching the Ukrainian offensive out of the Chuhuiv Raion from which Shevchenkove would eventually be taken. Almost simultaneously, the 125th Battalion of the 113th Territorial Defense Brigade stormed the village of Vasylenkove 6 kilometres (3.7 mi) east of Mykolaiivka. No later than midday on 8 September, units of the 113th Brigade advanced east along a highway and reached Shevchenkove, linking up with Ukrainian forces which had advanced north from Balakliia.
Ukrainian troops recaptured some 400 square kilometres (150 sq mi) of territory during the first two days.
On 8 September, the 233rd Battalion of the 128th Territorial Defense Brigade took control of the village of Vovchyi Yar and defeated a group of Russian and LPR forces there.
By 9 September, Ukraine had broken through Russian lines, with the Ukrainian military saying that it had advanced nearly 50 kilometres (31 mi) and recaptured over 1,000 square kilometres (390 sq mi) of territory. This advance placed them approximately 44 kilometres (27 mi) northwest of Izium, the main Russian logistics base in the region, a rate of advancement largely unseen since Russia withdrew from Kyiv at the start of the war. The Washington Post described the fall of Izium on 10 September as a "stunning rout"; the Institute for the Study of War assessed that Ukrainian forces had captured approximately 2,500 square kilometres (970 sq mi) in the breakthrough.
One military expert said that it was the first time since World War II that whole Russian units had been lost in a single battle. Journalist Harald Stutte argued that the commander of the Ukrainian offensive, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, had achieved a "tactical masterstroke" during the operation, especially at Lyman. In contrast, the main Russian commander opposing the Ukrainian attack, Alexander Lapin, was criticized for his lacking performance.
Breakthrough
On 6 September, having concentrated their forces north of Balakliia at Pryshyb, a small village about 15 km northwest of Balakliia, Ukrainian troops launched a counteroffensive in the Kharkiv Oblast, which drove Russian forces back to the left bank of the Donets and Serednya Balakliika rivers. The Ukrainian forces involved were Ukrainian special forces, plus tanks, armoured personnel carriers and troops from the 92nd Mechanized Brigade.
On the same day, Ukrainian forces captured Verbivka, about 8 km east of Pryshyb and less than 3 km northwest of Balakliia. Several Russian sources reported that Russian forces demolished unspecified bridges on the eastern outskirts of Balakliia to prevent further Ukrainian advances. Ukrainian forces went around Balakliia in order to besiege it. Some Ukrainian forces stayed near Balakliia, fighting Russian forces in the center of the city while another group went north towards Volokhiv Yar.
Ukrainian troops then went on the offensive in the directions of Balakliia, Volokhiv Yar, Shevchenkove, Kupiansk and the areas of Savyntsi and Kunye, situated east of Balakliia. According to Russian sources on this line of contact Ukrainians were opposed in some areas of the line by lightly armed forces of the DPR Militia, while Ukrainian sources said that the forces in this region were professional Russian soldiers, not conscripts from the Donbas.
By the following day, Ukrainian forces had advanced some 20 kilometres (12 mi) into Russian-occupied territory, recapturing approximately 400 square kilometres (150 sq mi), and reaching positions northeast of Izium. Russian sources claimed this success was likely due to the relocation of Russian forces to Kherson, in response to the Ukrainian offensive there.
By 7 September, Balakliia was under siege, with fighting taking place in the eastern and central parts of the city. Fighting ended on 8 September, with Ukrainian forces capturing all of Balakliia. After the quick takeover of the town of Balakliia, on the same day, Ukrainian troops took over Shevchenkove in a blitzkrieg. Russian forces retreated in panic towards the city of Kupiansk, while much larger Ukrainian forces continued the offensive in the direction of Izyum and Kupiansk on the same day.
By 8 September, Ukrainian troops had advanced 50 kilometres (31 mi) deep into Russian defensive positions north of Izium. SOBR units of Russian National Guard forces lost control of Balakliia, about 44 km northwest of Izium, although Ukraine did not establish control of the city until 10 September. Near the city, Ukrainian forces recaptured the largest ammunition storage base of the Central Rocket and Artillery Directorate of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Ukrainian forces also regained control over more than 20 settlements. On the same day, Ukrainian media reported that Ukrainian forces captured a high-ranking Russian officer on the Kharkiv front. Based on footage of the man, it was speculated that he was Lieutenant General Andrei Sychevoi, Commander of the Western Military District of the Russian Armed Forces. Russian occupation authorities in the city claimed that Russian forces began to defend Kupiansk. On the morning of 8 September, Ukraine's 80th Brigade reached the Oskil River at the village of Senkove.