From ISW, as of 9:30pm ET 9/8 (in reply to queries):
Ukrainian successes on the Kharkiv City-Izyum line are creating fissures within the Russian information space and eroding confidence in Russian command to a degree not seen since a failed Russian river crossing in mid-May. Ukrainian military officials announced that Ukrainian forces advanced 50km deep into Russian defensive positions north of Izyum on September 8, but the Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) notably did not issue any statement regarding Ukrainian advances in Kharkiv Oblast.[1] Ukrainian successes and the Russian MoD’s silence prompted many Russian milbloggers to criticize and debate Russian failures to retain control over the city of Balakliya, approximately 44km northwest of Izyum. Some milbloggers claimed that Russian forces fully or partially withdrew from Balakliya in good order, while others complained that Ukrainian forces beat Russian forces out of the settlement.[2] Others noted that Rosgvardia units operating in the area did not coordinate their defenses or have sufficient artillery capabilities to prevent Ukrainian counterattacks in the region.[3] Milbloggers warned about an impending Ukrainian counteroffensive northwest of Izyum for days prior to Ukrainian advances, and some milbloggers noted that Russian command failed to prepare for “obvious and predictable” Ukrainian counteroffensives.[4] Others noted that Ukrainian forces have “completely outplayed” the Russian military command in Balakliya, while others encouraged readers to wait to discuss Russian losses and withhold criticism until Russian forces stabilize the frontlines.[5]
Map, re: Kharkiv region:
Source: ISW, 9/8/2022.
Updated interactive map for entire Ukraine battlefront, here.
Update, 2:30pm Pacific:
Economist on the switch in initiative.
The big price is Kupiansk and Ukraine just have to get close to it – no need to take it. All essential Russian rail and road lines (ground lines of communication) are going through there from Russia and continuing to Izyum. The distribution centers in Izyum deliver to large parts of the frontline near Luhansk and even further south. Now Ukraine is less than 40 miles from those lines and we all know what that means.
Izyum made sense as the distribution center in the first 6-8 weeks of the war – but since then its potential vulnerability made it a bad choice. To late to fix that now. Instead Russia will have to divert troops back up north to hose down that fire. Then another area will become vulnerable. Mistakes were made, indeed.
It is just astounding that both Kupiansk and Izyum appears to have fallen back in the hands of Ukraine within a week of their offensive in that area. Russian forces will have to develop new supply lines that avoid the Karkiv oblast. This defeat is so total that it makes no sense for Russia to waste any more resources on trying to take the lost area back or even holding on to any of the Karkiv Oblast.
Russia will have to shorten their frontlines to make the length of them more appropriate for the quantity and quality of their military assets. They will probably rewire their supply lines to mainly go through Donbas (where they are much more secure) – and focus their military objectives on the Donbas “states” and the connection between Crimea and those.
This is a very dangerous time. The Russian leadership appears so confused and unable to grasp realities on the ground, that they easily could make more huge mistakes – and get themselves backed into a corner. At lest Biden has so far kept Ukraine from attacking Russia on Russian territory. We need to keep Putin trapped in his “not a war – a special military operation” narrative.
Russia tried to stretch Ukraines army thin by creating a 1500 mile long front line. It turned out that Russia was the ones being stretched thin with weak spots that could be identified and exploited.
are uaf advance as a front or are they entering a bulge?
there is one north south road thru izyum that makes the maps…..
Battle of the Bulge? Oh that’s right – you were a Hitler cheerleader.
Amazing what actual armaments can do for a military. Too bad the leaders of the West were so slow on the uptake. Russia might have been met with much more resistance initially. “We’ll just put economic sanctions on Russia. What can they do to retaliate?”
https://www.france24.com/en/live-news/20220226-too-little-too-late-west-finally-coughs-up-arms-for-ukraine
But, as the saying goes, better late than never.
Four years of your boy Trump trying to destroy NATO will do this. Of course your boy did not want to help Zelensky – he just wanted dirt on his political foes. But be honest for once in your pathetic lying life – this has to upset you dearly:
Mocked in some quarters for what sometimes seemed token efforts to support Ukraine’s military in the face of the Russian threat, the West is starting to finally step up supplies of military equipment after the invasion. With Ukrainian forces putting up real resistance in the face of the Russian advance, Western officials say there is a genuine interest in ensuring President Vladimir Putin pays the maximum price for the invasion.
Yea – we get you are cheering for Putin. We know Trump is.
I am glad to find someone who really knows how bad Trump hurt both Ukraine and the USA and NATO through his , what I call, treasonous/personal, actions. From my personal knowledge and experience in USA public law, Trump violate (felony) the Security Assistance laws when he failed to release the Congressionally approved military aid to Ukraine in a timely manner. I believe there is a max 3 day timeframe, and he held up for over a week trying to get some political gain against Biden, thereby hurting Ukraine, NATO allies, and the USA…AND benefitting Russia and Putin, which are Trump’s allies.
@ harleyman
I believe a great and most incredibly capable/talented woman by the name of Marie Yovanovitch would agree with you Sir.
Bruce Hall It’s not just armaments. Soldiers have to be trained how to use those armaments, and that takes time. A lot of time. Using equipment doesn’t just mean aiming and firing; it also means learning how to use and interpret the diagnostics that supports the equipment. In NATO countries those tasks are highly specialized, with each carrying its own MOS. Remember, Ukrainian soldiers were trained on old Soviet era equipment, which is very different from modern NATO equipment. If you want to see a good example, go to Ft. Rucker and look at captured Russian helicopters that are used to train various nationals from countries that use Russian equipment. Then go across the base and compare those Russian helicopters to US birds. And if you’re an armor guy, compare Russian tanks that use a three-man crew approach to a NATO four-man crew approach. It makes a big difference in the role of the tank’s gunner as well as where the ammo magazine is placed. And then there’s that godawful Russian “logistics.”
Bruce Hall’s only experience in this regard was playing with his toy soldiers as a little boy. I hear he still plays with them.
“Amazing what actual armaments can do for a military.”
It’s even better when the US president doesn’t threaten to withhold military aid unless the Ukrainian president coughs up dirt on his political rival.
How could you forget all that? 50% of Trump’s impeachments were about it. Oh right – hurts your feelings. “Russia, Russia, Russia” right?
Latest report is that Kupyansk has fallen to Ukraine and also Lyman, along with Izyum, fully 3000 sq km, a large area. Looks like full Russian collapse un most of Kharkiv oblast.
One of the natural lines of Russian “defense” goes from their Border in the north along the Oskil River to where it meets the Siverskyi Donetsk River, then east along that river. Lyman is on the wrong side of that line. Russia will be forced to commit a lot of fresh troops to take Lyman back – if they can. They need all their frontlines north of Severodonetsk to be quiet and easy to defend – tying down more Ukraine soldiers than their own soldiers. The next few weeks will be interesting. They will be forced to take troops from somewhere else to defend/establish that line.
Whoa – this post got outdated before it was posted. Ukrainian troops are reported to be fighting in Svatove deep inside Luhansk. I just hope they have made sure to cover their back.
@ Ivan
Do you know what showman David Lee Roth referred to the circumstance of being a celebrity/star?? “Here today, gone later today”
I forgot what Professor Chinn usually calls it. Something like “fluid situation” or “many moving parts”??
When JohnH decides to stop embarrassing himself over his total lack of knowledge of the semiconductor sector, I’m sure he will figure out how these developments means Putin is winning.
It is glorious to behold. Town after town liberated, video posted on Twitter. Grannies hugging soldiers. Blue and yellow flags going up. Hope they keep the big M. Meanwhile, Tucker Carlson pretends Russia is winning (not joking).
According to ISW, satellite images show that Russian troops have abandoned a strategic second line of defense town about 8 miles from Kherson – before they had even come under fire. There are literally only 4 Russian vehicles left there (and they may have just been broken down and abandoned). The strategy of Ukrainians that they first destroy supply lines, then wait for supplies to run out before attacking, seems to have worked beyond expectations. They may end up at the right back of the Dnipro river in weeks not months. In Karkiv Oblast many villages had no Russians to attack -they just hoisted the Ukraine flag and moved on.
So much for JohnH’s claim about Russia’s “inexhaustible resources.”
https://twitter.com/DefenceU/status/1569484504812556288
Seems kinda expensive to me.
They don’t even have inexhaustible tin.
Interesting that Lord Haw-Haw/Tucker Carlson and the MAGA are once-again spouting the Russian propaganda line – that war criminal Putin is now advancing in the south and this war is somehow the fault of the Biden admin or that Biden admin/West could have somehow magically supplied equipment in days – it reminds me of the B.S. – the GOP spouts off every-time the Dems/responsible people step in to solve a problem – for example, the GOP wants to investigate Fauci for telling people to wear a mask, wash their hands, and a take a life-saving vaccine. Although that B.S. and the inflation! line is having less of an impact with the base – so they switched back to the dog-whistles/crime – see Sen Johnson’s constantly airing ads.
Meanwhile back in the real world – I’m sure you have seen this – it seems pretty sensible to me: https://www.project-syndicate.org/commentary/fed-should-pause-rate-hikes-inflation-dampening-by-joseph-e-stiglitz-and-dean-baker-2022-09?barrier=accesspaylog
Also in Wisconsin – Michels ads – have switched from investigating the 2020 election for Trump and taking women’s health care back to 1849 from the primary to he is a “businessman” while showing clips of school kids (I assume going to private schools with vouchers he is pushing) – who knows nothing about policy/governance but is somehow going to run WI as his business.
Running it as a business.
So they are going to charge as much as they can get away with for the most defective product they can sucker the costumers into buying.
Then make sure that the leadership harvest obscene amounts of money before that business goes bankrupt – leaving society and the rest of us to pay for the cleanup and the costumers with nowhere to go with their complaints.
Yep – conservatives sure know how to run government as a business – but do they really think we are stupid enough to want government to be run that way?
run WI as *a Trump* business
There, I fixed it for you.