Western defense officials and analysts say Ukrainian forces have 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.
By KARL RITTER and JOANNA KOZLOWSKA, Associated Press
KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Western defense officials and analysts on Saturday 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.
The image showed soldiers displaying the flag of the 92nd Separate Mechanized Battalion of Ukraine in front of a building that resembled Kupiansk’s city council building, which sits just along the Oskil River.
Ukraine’s military has not yet acknowledged entering the city, though it comes amid a several days of apparent gains by the Ukrainians south of Kharkiv.
A Washington-based think tank likewise referenced sweeping Ukrainian gains on Saturday, estimating that Kyiv has seized around 2,500 square kilometers (965 square miles) in its northeastern breakthrough.