Free Republic

Ukraine’s top general says the situation in the northern Kharkiv region has “significantly worsened” after Russia claimed to have captured four further villages as it expanded its surprise cross-border offensive. A Ukrainian regional official insisted Russia’s progress was not yet “significant” but admitted ground fighting in the area was spreading. Meanwhile, speaking on British television, UK Foreign Secretary David Cameron acknowledged it was an “extremely dangerous moment,” adding that Russia had effectively “invaded [Ukraine] again.” The precise goal of Russia’s new push – which began in the early hours of Friday morning – is unclear. It may be to create...

Russian forces have attacked across the Ukrainian border to the north of Kharkiv in a potential effort to open a new front in the war and intensify the pressure on Ukraine’s second city. Ukraine’s defence ministry said there had been “an attempt by the enemy to break through our defence line using armoured vehicles” at about 5am on Friday near the town of Vovchansk, and the initial attacks had been repelled. There were also reports of fighting in the border villages of Strilecha, Pylna and Borysivka farther west, and that Russian forces had advanced by about 1km around Vovchansk, though...

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces began a renewed ground assault on Ukraine’s northeast, killing and injuring several and forcing more than 1,700 civilians to evacuate from the Kharkiv region, local officials said Saturday. Artillery, mortar, and aerial bombardments hit more than 30 different towns and villages, leaving at least three people dead and five others injured, said Kharkiv governor, Oleh Syniehubov. Ukraine rushed reinforcements to the Kharkiv region on Friday to hold off a Russian attempt to breach local defenses, authorities said.

KIEV, March 30 (Xinhua) -- The Zmiivska thermal power plant (TPP) in Ukraine's eastern Kharkiv region had been destroyed in a Russian missile attack, the Unian news agency said on Saturday, citing Ukrainian power generating company Centrenergo. The missile strike on March 22 destroyed all the plant's units and damaged auxiliary equipment, Centrenergo said in a report. Currently, workers are still clearing the rubble at the site and there is no access to most of the plant's equipment. On March 22, Russia fired 88 missiles and 63 Shahed combat drones at Ukraine, which Ukrainian authorities described as the largest strike...

Approximately 50 Ukrainian civilians were killed in a Russian strike that hit a grocery store in the eastern region of Kharkiv on Thursday. Russian forces shelled a cafe and shop in the village of Hroza in the Kupiansk district shortly after 1 p.m., according to Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv region military administration. Syniehubov said 48 people were killed in the initial tally, including a 6-year-old boy, but that total has since increased to 51, according to Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko. At least seven others were injured and are now receiving medical care while rescue operations remain ongoing....

Update from Ukraine | Zelensky announced the counterattack | The Main order was given | Date Unknown https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2dm7BPCkHtw ****NEW SUMMARY Military MAPS & COMMENTS here: Invasion Day 460 – Summary Jerome – May 29, 2023. https://militaryland.net/news/invasion-day-460-summary/ 5-28-2023- Ukraine is forming a new mechanized brigade of the Ground Forces. https://militaryland.net/news/new-mechanized-brigade-is-being-formed/ Ukrainian Army is being expanded by a new brigade, 44th Mechanized Brigade. The unit is currently at the stage of formation. As photos on social media suggest, it’s one of the Polish-trained Ukrainian brigades.The brigade received military number A4723 and at least one battalion is equipped with Polish-donated BMP-1 infantry fighting...

Gonzalo Lira, a prolific online personality who became an outspoken supporter of Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, had his home in Kharkiv raided by the security services.Ukraine’s Security Service (SBU) has arrested Gonzalo Lira—a dual citizen of the United States and Chile, who has been living in Kharkiv—on charges of producing pro-Russian propaganda.Lira, a prolific and controversial online personality, is accused of creating and disseminating materials that justify Putin’s armed aggression against Ukraine. He is facing the possibility of being imprisoned for five to eight years.Lira, a former online dating coach, was arrested on May 1st at his residence in Kharkiv,...

Ukrainian troops have reported outages of their Starlink communication devices on the frontline, hindering efforts to liberate territory from Russian forces, according to Ukrainian officials and soldiers. Thousands of Starlink terminals, made by Elon Musk-owned SpaceX, were purchased by the US government and crowdfunded by donors to help Ukrainian troops operate drones, receive vital intelligence updates and communicate with each other in areas where there are no other secure networks. The systems which connect a small antenna to a 35-centimetre-high terminal also provide internet for Ukrainian civilians. Some of the outages led to a “catastrophic” loss of communication in recent...

Click here to see ISW’s interactive map of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This map is updated daily alongside the static maps present in this report. The Kremlin acknowledged its defeat in Kharkiv Oblast, the first time Moscow has openly recognized a defeat since the start of the February 2022 invasion of Ukraine. Kremlin officials and state media propagandists are extensively discussing the reasons for the Russian defeat in Kharkiv Oblast, a marked change from their previous pattern of reporting on exaggerated or fabricated Russian successes with limited detail.[1] The Kremlin never admitted that Russia was defeated around Kyiv or,...

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has said his forces have reclaimed 6,000 square kilometers of occupied territory from Russia since starting a major counteroffensive last month. Western media is presenting events near Kharkiv as an absolute rout of Russian forces, with other sources cautioning there’s little that can be verified, also amid the question of whether regained territory can actually be held and permanently controlled by Ukraine. Ukraine’s defense minister Oleksii Reznikov himself admitted in a Monday Financial Times report that a prime worry remains the ability to hold on to the territory amid superior Russian munitions and supplies. “A counter-offensive...

Kharkiv, which is Ukraine's second largest city and is the biggest population center closest to Russia's border, has been plunged into total darkness Sunday night amid alleged Russian attacks on key infrastructure sites, including large power stations."The center of Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv was plunged into darkness on Sunday evening by an electricity blackout," Reuters has confirmed of the large-scale outage. It's further being reported that some city districts are also without water, creating a severe crisis for residents."The cause and extent of the blackout in the northeastern city were not immediately clear. There were also unconfirmed social media reports...

KHARKIV, Sept 11 (Reuters) - Power blackouts and cuts in water supply hit several areas of Ukraine's northeastern region of Kharkiv on Sunday as Russian attacks hit infrastructure sites, the region's governor said. "The (Russian) occupiers have struck critical infrastructure in the city and region of Kharkiv," Olegh Synehubov wrote on Telegram. "In several population centres, there are no electrical or water supplies. Fires have broken out where these strikes occurred and emergency crews ... are containing the blazes."

Russian nationalists called angrily on Sunday for President Vladimir Putin to make immediate changes to ensure ultimate victory in the Ukraine war, a day after Moscow was forced to abandon its main bastion in northeastern Ukraine. The swift fall of Izium in Kharkiv province was Russia's worst military defeat since its troops were forced back from the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in March. (snip)Moscow's almost total silence on the defeat - or any explanation for what had taken place in northeastern Ukraine - provoked significant anger among some pro-war commentators and Russian nationalists on social media. Neither Putin, who is Russia's...

The Russian situation in the Kharkiv area of Ukraine is growing more desperate by the hour. A couple of days ago, the Ukrainian Army launched an ambitious offensive designed to force Russian forces from a large part of Kharkiv Oblast, which they’ve illegally occupied since February. I posted on the initial stage of the offensive yesterday in Putin’s War, Week 28. The Sitzkrieg Goes Blitzkrieg as Ukraine’s Army Moves 50 Kilometers in Two Days.Since that post, things have changed radically.The key terrain in the northern part of the operational area is the city of Kupyansk (at the pinkish circle on...

The Russian-installed chief administrator of Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine’s Kharkiv region recommended on Saturday that all its inhabitants evacuate to Russia “to save lives,” according to the Russian state-run TASS news agency. Vitaly Ganchev said official representatives were ready to provide the refugees with food, heat and medical care, according to TASS. The Russian Defence Ministry said it was pulling troops out of Izium and Balakliia – crucial military supply hubs in the Kharkiv region – as Ukraine claimed rapid advances. Ganchev had said on Friday that civilians were being evacuated from several towns that had come under heavy pressure...

Ukrainian forces have entered Izium after forcing Russian troops to retreat, an officer involved in the operation to liberate the strategic eastern city told CNN Saturday. Izium, which sits near the border between the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, had been under Russian occupation for more than five months and had become an important hub for the invading military. "We have just started clearing the town. First military units are in," the officer told CNN. A spokesperson for the Bohun Brigade of the Land Forces of Ukraine said in a statement earlier on Saturday that "Russians escaped and left weapons and...

Ukraine is reportedly on the precipice of a major victory, with its counter-offensive around the eastern city of Kharkiv (Kharkov) unexpectedly putting the Russian army on the back foot. According to British intelligence, Russian forces appear to have been “taken by surprise” by the Ukrainians, who have reportedly advanced “up to 50 kilometres (31 miles) into previously Russian-held territory on a narrow front.”

Astonishing footage has captured the moment that Russian soldiers are thrown off a fleeing tank which is sent crashing into a tree as Ukraine's forces continue their 30-mile advance into Russian occupied areas. The fleeing tank is seen desperately retreating at a considerable speed near Izyum in the Kharkiv region with several soldiers on top of its hull. But moments after Russian troops are thrown from the tank, it is seen swerving off the road before smashing straight into a tree which falls on the remaining soldiers.

US war-gamed with Ukraine ahead of counteroffensive and encouraged more limited mission.In the buildup to the current Ukrainian counteroffensive, the United States urged Kyiv to keep the operation limited in both its objectives and its geography to avoid getting overextended and bogged down on multiple fronts, multiple US and western officials and Ukrainian sources tell CNN. -snip- The Ukrainians were initially considering a broader counteroffensive, but narrowed their mission to the south, in the Kherson region, in recent weeks, US and Ukrainian officials said.

Ukrainian soldiers are being welcomed as heroes by gleeful residents who have lived under Russian occupation for months, as Kyiv continues to retake dozens of settlements from the clutches of Vladimir Putin's forces. Videos and pictures have emerged showing troops standing victoriously on top of Russian flags in the liberated city Balakliia, while others have been shown in footage discovering the burnt out wreckages of enemy tanks. The images come as swiftly advancing Ukrainian troops were bearing down on the main railway supplying Moscow's forces in the east on Friday, after the sudden collapse of a section of the Russian...