Ukraine says some troops advancing ‘dozens of kilometres’ in south

The advance appears to be around Izyum, long a focus on the Russian front line and the site of heavy artillery and other fighting.

A man stands next to a business and entertainment centre heavily damaged by a Russian military strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine. | Photo Credit: Reuters

Ukrainian troops along the southern front line in some regions are advancing dozens of kilometres into territory captured by Russian troops at the beginning of the invasion, a military spokeswoman said on September 10, 2022.

“Our troops are advancing along the southern front lines in various sections from between two and several dozens of kilometres,” Nataliya Gumenyuk, a spokeswoman for southern command of the Ukrainian army told local media.

Earlier, Western defense officials and analysts said they believed Ukraine had punched through Russian front lines south of the country’s second-largest city, taking thousands of square miles of territory and threatening to cut off Russian supply lines.

The British Defense Ministry in an online briefing said it believed the Ukrainians had advanced as much as 50 kilometers (30 miles) in the advance south of Kharkiv, northeastern Ukraine.

The advance appears to be around Izyum, long a focus on the Russian front line and the site of heavy artillery and other fighting. The British described Russian forces around Izyum as “increasingly isolated.”

“Russian forces were likely taken by surprise. The sector was only lightly held and Ukrainian units have captured or surrounded several towns,” the British military said.

It added that the nearby town of Kupiansk also appeared to be pressured by Ukrainian forces, and that its loss would greatly affect Russian supply lines in the area.

An image circulated on social media Saturday appeared to show Ukrainian soldiers in front of a main government building in Kupiansk, some 73 kilometers (45 miles) north of Izyum.