Published on: 09/20/2022 – 07:53
If the Kiev counter-offensive surprised Russian troops, the extent of its success surprised Ukrainian soldiers just as much. Our journalist visited several of them in the Kharkiv region. Report.
In the conflict in Ukraine, Russian forces suffered a series of failures in September, retreating from much of the north-east of the country in the face of a lightning counteroffensive by Ukrainians in the Kharkiv region. Kiev’s troops were also regaining ground in the south, albeit more slowly.
A Ukrainian soldier reports his surprise at the moment of the Ukrainian counter-offensive: “We attacked, we captured a position, we occupied it and we fortified it. Three days later the front advanced and they (the Russian soldiers) began to withdraw en masse. We were ready to fight, so we didn’t imagine that they would leave the entire front.
Ukrainian soldiers are busy restoring equipment left behind by the enemy. “This is the new generation of Russian Ural vehicles that they prepared for the invasion… Well, now they will work for us,” explains this Ukrainian soldier.
>> Also read: “Ukraine wants to prove with counter-offensive in the east that victory is possible”
The escape of the Russian army can be seen everywhere. These men, who had just arrived to secure the territory, discovered the old Russian positions. The opposing lines have dissolved. Here are only posters of Lenin, a pin-up girl and Soviet-style newspapers, with no bad news.
The story of this tactical success can be traced in part to the subterfuge of the Ukrainian leadership a few weeks before the counteroffensive.
This is revealed by Andriy Malakhov, an officer in the Ukrainian special forces. He was shot and wounded during the operation: “I led the attack, my main maneuver was the diversion, south of Balaklia. In fact, the biggest breakthrough came from the west, but the intelligence services were spreading the word that the attack would take place in the south.”
>> Also Read: Hide This Ukrainian Counteroffensive That Russian Media Can’t See
A success all the more rare as his troops were defeated by the enemy three times during the attack.