In a possible intensification of the Ukrainian counteroffensive in the war against Russia, Kiev announced on Saturday (10) what would be significant advances by its forces in the east of the country to recapture territories taken in the first days of the invasion.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Foreign Affairs classified the action as extraordinary. According to the ministry, the country’s military managed to enter Kupiansk, a railroad outpost that had been under Russian control for months and through which supplies sent from Moscow pass for the main focus of their action, the fighting in Donbass (east of the country), on the border. east of Kharkiv.
“Ukrainian troops are advancing in the east, liberating more cities and towns. Their bravery coupled with Western military support is producing extraordinary results,” Ukrainian Foreign Ministry spokesman Oleg Nikolenko said in a statement. The information could not be independently verified.
Such enthusiasm from Kiev, however, is viewed with caution by military analysts, considering that, in addition to the fighting, the war of narratives permeates the conflict. As soon as it announced the advances on the front, the Ukrainian government asked the West to send new weapons to the country, saying that defeating Russia “means a victory for peace”.
Six months after the invasion of Ukraine, data from the Kiel Institute for the World Economy showed that Europe has drastically reduced the sending of resources to the country. At the other end, the US announced last month the sending of another US$ 3 billion (R$ 15.2 billion) in military aid, coming from the billion-dollar assistance package approved by Congress.
On Friday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that his troops had retaken around 30 cities in the north-east of the country, in the Kharkiv region, as part of this counter-offensive that marks the third stage of the conflict.
The Ukrainian advances were confirmed in a rare admission made by one of the Kremlin-appointed administrators for that area of ​​northeastern Ukraine, Vitali Gantchev. The Russian Defense Ministry announced the deployment of reinforcements to the region and released a video with images of several military trucks carrying cannons and armored vehicles.
The largest city so far reconquered by Ukrainian troops is Balaklia, where around 30,000 people lived before the war. Some reports suggest that Kiev’s forces advanced further east.
In Izium, south of Kharkiv, the Moscow administration chief told Russian news agency Ria Novosti that the situation in that area was “very difficult”. “In the last two weeks, the city was bombed by Ukrainian forces, which is causing serious destruction and many deaths and injuries,” said Vladislav Sokolov.
The seizure of urban centers like Kupiansk and Izium could be a severe blow to Russia’s ability to maintain its positions on the eastern frontline. Faced with threats from Ukrainian counter-offensives, Moscow spent about a month reinforcing itself in the south, while maintaining its offensive, albeit slowly advancing, to complete the takeover of the Donetsk region still under Ukrainian control.
In Grakove, a town recaptured by Ukrainian forces, power poles and cables were knocked down. In the abandoned houses, stray dogs and cats tried to find food. “It was terrifying, there were bombings and explosions everywhere,” Anatoli Vasiliev, 61, one of the few residents who remained in the village, told AFP news agency.
This Saturday, amid heightened tensions in the war, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock arrived in the Ukrainian capital on a surprise visit. It was the second time she had visited the country since the start of the conflict on 24 February.
“I traveled to Kiev to show that they can continue to count on us,” Baerbock said in a statement, assuring that Germany would continue to support Kiev “for as long as necessary, with weapons supplies, humanitarian and financial support.”
In recent weeks, Germany has sent howitzers, rocket launchers and anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine. The equipment reinforces the arsenal provided by the West, which observers say may have hampered Russia’s military capabilities.
Since the beginning of the week, reports surfaced that Kiev was pressuring Moscow to open a front in the north of the country, while its counteroffensive in Kherson (south) faced great resistance.
It remains to be seen whether the Russians, who had already diverted forces to contain the attack on Kherson, have where to get men to protect the occupied areas of Kharkiv, whose capital they did not take, despite intense attacks on the city, Ukraine’s second largest. The lack of human resources, due to the fact that there was no general mobilization for political reasons, has affected the entire Russian campaign.
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