Kyiv's Troops Regain More Territory In Northern Kharkiv Oblast

Kyiv's forces continue to retake territory from battered Kremlin formations suffering from extensive casualties as Ukraine receives more artillery ammunition and drone support. JL 

Ellie Cook reports in Newsweek:

Ukraine has regained territory northeast of Kharkiv, according to new reports. Kyiv's troops have recaptured some positions near Hlyboke, a village close to Lyptsi, within around 20 miles of regional capital, Kharkiv City. The front line in northern Kharkiv earlier this week is "stabilized," as Ukraine managed to slow Russia's assault and can be "confident" on operations around Lyptsi.

Ukraine has regained territory northeast of Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, according to new reports, as Russia presses on with attacks on the battered border town of Vovchansk.

Reports from Ukrainian military sources and Russian military blogging accounts suggest Kyiv's troops have recaptured some positions near Hlyboke, a village close to the settlement of Lyptsi, the U.S.-based think tank, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), said on Tuesday.

Russia launched a cross-border offensive from its Belgorod region into Ukraine's Kharkiv region in early May, quickly gaining a smattering of settlements along two chunks of the border. Moscow's pushes focused around the village of Lyptsi—within around 20 miles of regional capital, Kharkiv City—and the border city of Vovchansk.

 

Ukraine has said it managed to slow Russia's assault, even as it warned that Moscow was attempting to overstretch Ukrainian resources and divert efforts from the eastern Donetsk region. Kharkiv regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov, described the frontline in northern Kharkiv earlier this week as "stabilized," but warned that although Ukraine can be "confident" on operations around Lyptsi, "battles are going on for every street, for every house" in Vovchansk.

Ukraine has also contended with relentless Russian guided aerial bomb attacks, often launched by Russian jets sticking to Russian territory and out of the way of Ukrainian air defenses.

 

The U.S. gave the go-ahead late last month for Ukraine to use some American-supplied weapons on internationally-recognized Russian soil to fend off the offensive, although Kyiv is not permitted to use its long-range Army Tactical Missile Systems (ATACMS).

Vitaly Lytvyn, an officer with an intelligence unit under Ukraine's national guard, said earlier this week that Kyiv had "pushed the enemy back a little" from Lyptsi, adding that the "situation is stable, controlled, but difficult."

 

Russia is "constantly carrying out airstrikes with guided aerial bombs," Lytvyn added.