Ukraine drives Russians out of key eastern city
Ukraine has claimed its biggest strategic gain since its offensive, cutting off thousands of Russian troops.
Ukrainian forces seized most of a strategically vital city in northeastern Ukraine on Saturday, cutting the main supply line to thousands of Russian troops near the eastern city of Izyum and marking the biggest strategic gain Ukraine has made since the start of an offensive last week.
Photos from Russian and Ukrainian channels on Telegram showed Ukrainian soldiers holding the country’s flag in front of the city hall in Kupyansk, and Kremlin-loyal Russian military correspondents said Moscow’s forces had pulled back across the Oskil River to the eastern part of the city.
Ukraine’s control over the critical infrastructure of the city and the success of this week’s advance signal to Western backers the effectiveness of weapons the U.S. and Europe has given to Kyiv.
The Kupyansk rail and road hub located in the western half of the city was the last artery connecting Russia with thousands of troops on territory that represented the bulk of Russia’s gains in May and June. Ukraine’s control of the road network also threatens Russia’s hold on Izyum, a city Moscow had planned to use to launch further attacks on Ukrainian-controlled parts of the Donetsk region in the country’s east.
The UK Defence Ministry said on Saturday that Izyum was becoming increasingly isolated. Analysts say Ukraine is aiming to encircle a pocket of Russian troops around Izyum east of the Oskil River.
“Izyum will soon be ours,” said a Ukrainian commander fighting near the city.
In the weeks leading up to Ukraine’s offensive, Kyiv’s forces used Western-made weapons, including High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or Himars, against Russian supply lines and frontline positions. With the Ukrainian thrust east building steam, Russian resistance has folded in recent days.
Russia’s Defence Ministry said on Saturday that it was holding positions and returning fire at the Ukrainians.
The Ukrainian gains have put Russia on the defensive not only on the battlefield, but also at home. Russian television has carefully tailored its narrative on the war to keep support for the invasion high, particularly ahead of this weekend’s voting in parliamentary and municipal elections.
Moscow hasn’t responded to gains Ukraine has made in recent days, and Russian President Vladimir Putin’s only appearance on state TV on Saturday was to promote the Kremlin’s online voting system.
“Kupyansk is undoubtedly a tasty target for the Ukrainian Armed Forces insofar as it is an intersection of railroads and highways and is a logistical base that supplies materiel for practically all our troops west of the Siverskyi Donets River, so the stakes are very high,” he said.
The advances made by Ukrainian forces are important for Kyiv’s forces, which have been facing their own hardships with supplies of artillery and ammunition.
On Saturday, Oleh Synyehubov, the head of the Kharkiv region, where the bulk of Ukraine’s gains has been made in recent days, praised the armed forces from the city of Balakliya, which was taken from the Russians earlier this week.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Friday that his country’s forces had retaken control of more than 30 towns and villages in the Kharkiv region in recent days and that measures were being taken to secure the gains. It couldn’t immediately be determined what reserves Ukraine has available to shore up the territory it seized and expand on its gains.
Vitaly Ganchev, the head of the Russian-installed administration in the Kharkiv region, appealed to those in the areas where fighting was under way to leave their houses to prevent civilian deaths.
But many residents have stayed on to welcome incoming Ukrainian soldiers, sometimes with tears of joy after months of Russian occupation. One video showed Ukrainian soldiers in Balakliya clambering on top of an armoured personnel carrier to tear down a Russian-propaganda banner reading, “We are with Russia! One people!”
With Evan Gershkovich
The Wall Street Journal
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