Ukraine continues its offensive, Russia sends reinforcements to Kharkiv

by time news

The surprise offensive launched Tuesday, September 6 by Ukrainian forces in Kharkiv is hurting Russian troops. In Moscow, the media show reinforcements sent to this region of northeastern Ukraine where Russia has lost ground. In the meantime, the Ukrainian advance continues and the city of Kupyansk could fall soon.

Reinforcements to counter a surprise offensive

If the Russian power continues to insist on the losses inflicted on the Ukrainian troops and remains silent on the Ukrainian offensive, the media have been broadcasting since Friday, September 9 images of reinforcements en route to the Kharkiv region. Tanks, howitzers and trucks appear in videos that show them driving in large numbers towards Ukraine’s northeast front.

On the ground, however, the pro-Russian authorities cannot deny the reality. Friday, they announced to evacuate the inhabitants towards other zones under control of Moscow, or even in Russia.

kyiv says it has recaptured around 30 cities, including Balaklia, which has been under Russian control for six months, and some 1,000 km2 of territory. “We are gradually taking control of new localities. We bring everywhere the Ukrainian flag and protection to our citizens”welcomed President Volodymyr Zelensky in a video.

On Saturday morning, Ukrainian forces announced on Saturday that they had entered Kupyansk, a city of 27,000 inhabitants in the east of the country. Ukrainian special forces posted images on social media, showing their officers “in Kupiansk, which has been and will always be Ukrainian”. Located 120 km southeast of Kharkiv, Kupyansk had fallen to the Russians less than a week after the start of the offensive in Ukraine on February 24. Its recapture by Ukrainian forces could pose a serious problem for Moscow, as the city lies on supply routes to other Russian positions on the frontline.“Our soldiers are advancing on the front lines in the south in several areas ranging from two to several tens of kilometers”spokeswoman for the military command of southern Ukraine, Natalia Goumenyuk, told local media.

Ukrainian success and American weapons

This major breakthrough in the Kharkiv region seems to be the result of an effective strategy by kyiv, which earlier, in late August, launched a counter-offensive in the southern region of Kherson, to drive Russian soldiers from the eastern bank of the river. Dnieper. Expected, this attack had pushed Russia to strengthen its positions in this part of Ukraine.

According to kyiv, this campaign is bearing fruit. Ukraine has claimed in recent days a series of successes also in the South, claiming to have taken over territories and many localities. On Saturday, Ukraine again announced breakthroughs by its troops on “several tens of kilometers” on the southern front. If consolidated, these Ukrainian gains are the biggest for Ukraine since the withdrawal of Russian troops from around kyiv in late March.

Traveling to Prague, Lloyd Austin, the American Secretary of Defense, welcomed this development, noting that Western armaments, such as American HIMARS, could be used for “changing the dynamic on the battlefield”. “We are seeing success in Kherson now, success in Kharkiv, and so it’s all very, very encouraging”did he declare.

Arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances, according to the UN

On the ground, and in necessarily complicated conditions, particularly on the Russian side, the UN is continuing its work on a series of violations suffered by prisoners of war since the start of the invasion.

Torture in particular, if proven in court, “would be a war crime”explained Friday Matilda Bogner, who heads the human rights monitoring mission in Ukraine, during a situation update by videoconference from Odessa.

Pending the publication of a full report on September 27, the mission said it had already documented at least 416 cases of arbitrary detentions and enforced disappearances in Russian-occupied territory or in areas controlled by the armed forces. Russians and affiliated armed groups at the time of the events. Of these people, 16 were found dead and 166 were released.

The UN mission also identified 51 arbitrary arrests and 30 other cases that could be similar to enforced disappearances perpetrated by Ukrainian law enforcement.

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