First phase (6–12 September 2022) Initial advance On 6 September 2022, Ukrainian forces launched a counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region, taking Russian forces by surprise. In a 10 September interview with the Guardian, Ukrainian special forces spokesman Taras Berezovets stated Russia "thought [the counteroffensive] would be in the south... then, instead of the south, the offensive happened where they least expected, and this caused them to panic and flee." On 7 September, units of Ukraine's
112th Territorial Defense Brigade began storming Russian positions in the village of , thus launching the Ukrainian offensive out of the
Chuhuiv Raion from which
Shevchenkove would eventually be taken. Almost simultaneously, the 125th Battalion of the
113th Territorial Defense Brigade stormed the village of east of Mykolaiivka. Ukrainian troops recaptured some of territory during the first two days. On 8 September, the 233rd Battalion of the
128th Territorial Defense Brigade took control of the village of and defeated a group of Russian and
LPR forces there. This advance placed them approximately northwest of Izium, the main Russian logistics base in the region, a rate of advancement largely unseen since Russia withdrew from Kyiv at the start of the war. the
Institute for the Study of War assessed that Ukrainian forces had captured approximately in the breakthrough. One military expert said that it was the first time since
World War II that whole Russian units had been lost in a single battle. On the same day, Ukrainian forces captured
Verbivka, about 8 km east of Pryshyb and less than 3 km northwest of Balakliia. Several Russian sources reported that Russian forces demolished unspecified bridges on the eastern outskirts of Balakliia to prevent further Ukrainian advances. Ukrainian forces went around Balakliia in order to besiege it. Ukrainian troops then went on the offensive in the directions of Balakliia, Volokhiv Yar,
Shevchenkove, Kupiansk and the areas of
Savyntsi and Kunye, situated east of Balakliia. According to Russian sources on this line of contact Ukrainians were opposed in some areas of the line by lightly armed forces of the
DPR Militia, By 7 September, Balakliia was under siege, with fighting taking place in the eastern and central parts of the city. Fighting ended on 8 September, with Ukrainian forces capturing all of Balakliia. After the quick takeover of the town of Balakliia, on the same day, Ukrainian troops took over
Shevchenkove in a blitzkrieg. Russian forces retreated in panic towards the city of
Kupiansk, while much larger Ukrainian forces continued the offensive in the direction of
Izyum and
Kupiansk on the same day. By 8 September, Ukrainian troops had advanced deep into Russian defensive positions north of Izium.
SOBR units of Russian National Guard forces lost control of Balakliia, about 44 km northwest of Izium, Near the city, Ukrainian forces recaptured the largest ammunition storage base of the Central Rocket and Artillery Directorate of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. On the same day, Ukrainian media reported that Ukrainian forces captured a high-ranking Russian officer on the Kharkiv front. Based on footage of the man, it was speculated that he was Lieutenant General
Andrei Sychevoi, Commander of the
Western Military District of the
Russian Armed Forces. Russian occupation authorities in the city claimed that Russian forces began to defend Kupiansk. On the morning of 8 September, Ukraine's
80th Brigade reached the
Oskil River at the village of . On 9 September, the Russian-backed administration ordered the evacuation into Russia of the population from
Izium,
Kupiansk and
Velykyi Burluk. Local residents later reported that at this point Russian soldiers in the area began to flee villages, leaving behind their weaponry, before Ukrainian troops even arrived. Later in the day Ukrainian forces reached Kupiansk, a vital transit hub at the junction of several of the main railway lines supplying Russian troops at the front. The Institute for the Study of War said it believed Kupiansk would likely fall in the next 72 hours. In response to the Ukrainian advance, Russian reserve units were sent as reinforcements to both Kupiansk and Izium. On 10 September, Ukrainian forces retook Kupiansk and Izium, and were reportedly advancing towards
Lyman. An advisor to the head of Kharkiv regional council, Natalia Popova, posted photos on Facebook of the
92nd Mechanized Brigade's 1st Mechanized Battalion holding a Ukrainian flag outside Kupiansk city hall. Ukrainian security officials and police moved into the recaptured settlements to check the identities of those who stayed under Russian occupation. Later that day, Luhansk Oblast Governor
Serhiy Haidai claimed that Ukrainian soldiers had advanced into the outskirts of
Lysychansk, while Ukrainian partisans had reportedly managed to capture parts of
Kreminna. Haidai stated Russian forces had fled the city, leaving Kreminna "practically empty". The same day, the 233rd Battalion of the 128th Territorial Defense Brigade took the villages of and near Shevchenkove, with the support of the 192nd Battalion of the
124th Territorial Defense Brigade. Also on 10 September, Zelenskyy announced that Ukraine's
113th Territorial Defense Brigade had captured the village of . Units of the 113th Brigade took control of
Velykyi Burluk the next day, reaching the state border near Vovchansk soon after. The Russian Ministry of Defence spokesperson
Igor Konashenkov responded to these developments by claiming that Russian forces in the Balakliia and Izium area would "regroup" in the Donetsk area "in order to achieve the stated goals of the special military operation to liberate Donbas". On 11 September,
Newsweek reported that Ukrainian forces had "penetrated Russian lines to a depth of up to 70 kilometers in some places and retaken more than 3,000 square kilometers of territory since September 6". Reports that Russian troops had withdrawn from
Kozacha Lopan and locals had raised the Ukrainian flag next to the town hall came in from local Ukrainian officials. A map used in the briefing of the Russian Ministry of Defense on the same day confirmed that Russian forces had withdrawn from Kozacha Lopan, as well as
Vovchansk and other settlements on the Ukraine-Russia border. Ukrainian forces also retook
Velykyi Burluk. At 20:06 that day, Russian
Kalibr cruise missiles struck Ukrainian
critical infrastructure sites (including
Kharkiv TEC-5), which left
Poltava,
Sumy,
Kharkiv,
Dnipropetrovsk,
Donetsk, and parts of
Odesa Oblasts without electricity. Meanwhile, clashes between Ukrainian attackers and Russian defenders continued at
Lyman. and the
49th "Carpathian Sich" Battalion advanced into the village of , where it captured members of Russia's
423rd Motor Rifle Regiment. On 11 September, the 244th Battalion of the
112th Territorial Defense Brigade restored Ukrainian control over the Kharkiv Oblast villages of ,
Khotimlia, , , , , , , , , , , , and . A local official said the same day that northwest of Kharkiv, Russian forces had abandoned the villages of , , and
Udy. The next day, the
14th Brigade published footage of its fighters raising the Ukrainian flag at
Ternova on the
Russia–Ukraine border. A day later, the 127th Brigade's 247th Battalion announced that it had captured the villages of
Lyptsi,
Hlyboke, and
Strilecha. On 12 September, according to the summary of the
General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, the Ukrainian Defense Forces cleared Russian troops in more than 20 settlements, most noticeably in
Velykyi Burluk and
Dvorichna. Ukrainian forces retook all of Kharkiv Oblast west of the
Oskil River by 13 September, with media claiming that Ukrainian troops had entered
Vovchansk.
Other gains and casualties In the morning of 11 September,
Luhansk Oblast Governor Serhiy Haidai claimed that Russian forces had mostly left
Starobilsk. In the same message, he claimed that Russian occupational authorities were also leaving from areas that Russia had controlled since 2014, though there was no clear evidence to verify this claim. Reports of the Russian military moving out of areas they formerly controlled in
Luhansk Oblast began on 12 September alongside a withdrawal from the city of
Svatove; however, Russian troops returned to Svatove on 14 September. On 12 September, President Zelenskyy said that Ukrainian forces had retaken a total of 6,000 km2 from Russia, in both the south and the east. On 13 September, during his nightly address, he claimed that the Ukrainian military had recaptured 8,000 km2 of territory from Russia. According to
Oryx, Russia had lost at least 338 pieces of military hardware in the five days to 11 September. This included fighter jets, tanks and trucks that had been destroyed, damaged or captured. Following the offensive,
David Axe, a
Forbes journalist, citing Ukrainian figures, reported that tens of thousands of Russian soldiers had been killed, captured or had deserted. By 9 September, 10,000 Russians were being encircled around
Izium and the Oskil River, including the
4th Guards Tank Division, with Ukraine capturing so many prisoners that they had "nowhere to keep [them]". Axe also estimated that the
1st Guards Tank Army's 4th Guards Tank Division, made up of two regiments, had lost at least 100 T-80 tanks, or half of their total strength, in just 100 hours. He also stated that the Tank Army's
2nd Guards Motorized Rifle Division, also consisting of two regiments, had also largely been destroyed and rendered unfit for combat as a result of the offensive. However,
Foreign Policy, in an analysis almost a year later, stated despite the Russian withdrawal seeming like a rout, Russian forces avoided the capture or destruction of most of their units. On 18 September, in Kharkiv Oblast, a Russian
T-90M was captured - the first confirmed in the war. The tank fell to Ukrainian forces without visible damage, and was most likely abandoned by the Russian military during a hasty retreat from the Kharkiv region.
Operations east of the Oskil River (13 September–October 2022) in the Kharkiv Oblast, 14 September 2022 Despite Russia's reported intent to keep the front line along
Oskil River, Ukrainian forces had already crossed the river as early as 13 September at several locations. and by 24–25 September,
David Axe claimed that the Ukrainian military had established at least five bridgeheads on the east side of Oskil River.
Oskil River crossings in the Kharkiv Oblast Around 13 September, Ukrainian forces crossed the river near
Borova and established a bridgehead. On 15 September, some Russian sources claimed Ukrainian forces set up artillery positions at Hryanykivka, across from Dvorichna on the east side of the Oskil River. On 22 September,
ISW reported that "Ukrainian forces have taken ground east of
Dvorichna and are fighting in
Tavilzhanka, which is reportedly still contested territory." There were reports that Ukrainian forces liberated
Hrianykivka, a settlement just west of Tavilzhanka, on 15 September when Ukraine set up artillery positions there. Thus it is "consistent with previous reporting on continued Ukrainian efforts to penetrate the current Russian defensive lines that run along the Oskil River and push eastward." On 24 September, Ukrainian forces liberated
Horobivka, a settlement east of
Hrianykivka on the east side of the
Oskil River. On 16 September, Ukrainian forces captured the eastern portion of Kupiansk on the east side of the Oskil River, establishing another bridgehead over the Oskil River and thus taking control of the entire city of Kupiansk. This further threatened Russian supply lines in northern Luhansk Oblast, imperiling Russian operations throughout the rest of
Donbas. The Institute for the Study of War assessed that
Synkivka in Kharkiv Oblast came under Ukrainian control on 2 October, based on statements made by the Russian defence ministry. On 26 September, the New York Times reported a standoff between the critical cities of then-Russian-held Lyman and Ukrainian-controlled
Bakhmut. With the approaching winter likely to stall both militaries, Lyman was set to be the battle that decided the eastern theater of the war. On 3 September, Ukraine's
103rd Territorial Defense Brigade began to conduct combat operations in the
Donetsk Oblast as part of
a major Ukrainian offensive. The brigade's 63rd Battalion established crossings over the
Siverskyi Donets river from the village of , and, with the support of units of the
Ukrainian National Guard's
15th Regiment, took control of the village of
Ozerne. The
Institute for the Study of War said that the capture of the village implied "degrading Russian control of the river's left bank east of
Sloviansk". On 12 September, Ukraine's
National Guard liberated
Sviatohirsk, which Russian forces captured in June 2022, and inched closer to the administrative border between Kharkiv and Donetsk Oblasts as well as
Lyman, a strategic
railway town in
Donetsk Oblast that Russian forces captured in late May 2022. On 15 September, Ukrainian forces recaptured Sosnove in Donetsk Oblast, and forced Russian forces to withdraw from Studenok, a village in Kharkiv Oblast southeast of Izium, to avoid encirclement. On 25 September, Ukrainian forces likely obtained control of Maliivka, a settlement just north of the Kharkiv-Donetsk border. On 26 September, Ukrainian forces advanced north from Donetsk Oblast and liberated
Pisky-Radkivski. The settlement is on the east side of the Oskil River in Kharkiv Oblast, located northwest of
Lyman. On 27 September, further incremental gains were reported east of the Oskil river, with Ukrainian forces entering the towns of Ridkodub and Korovyi Yar. On 28 September, Ukrainian forces entered the town of
Novoselivka located in the Donetsk region, a strategic crossing point about 12 km northwest of Lyman, on the left bank of the Oskil River. On 30 September, Ukrainian forces liberated
Yampil, a key village to the southeast of Lyman. A pro-Russian
Telegram channel reported that Ukrainian forces managed to "break through Russian defenses, forcing Russian troops to retreat to Lyman."
Zelenskyy also reported that Ukrainian troops had captured the town of
Drobysheve, to the northwest of Lyman. On 1 October, video footage emerged of Ukrainian troops raising the
Ukrainian flag at an entrance to
Lyman, and there were reportedly up to 5,000 Russian troops encircled within the city. Serhii Cherevatyi, spokesperson for Ukraine's eastern forces, claimed that Ukrainian forces successfully surrounded
Russian forces in the city. Ukrainian forces advanced into the city, and according to
The Guardian, the battle in Lyman "was a bloody rout." Russian officers had refused invitations to surrender, so Russian troops fled in a disorganized manner. The city was significantly damaged during the Russian occupation, with locals stating only a few hundred remained of the 27,000 who lived in Lyman before the war. Russian authorities confirmed the loss of Lyman later that afternoon. Initially, there were no clear estimates of casualties during the battle.
Associated Press reporters noted that at least 18 Russian bodies remained on the streets on 3 October. Later, however, the Ukrainians claimed to have killed over 1,500 Russian soldiers during the retaking of the city. The Institute for the Study of War assessed in Donetsk Oblast had come under Ukrainian control on 2 October, based on statements made by the Russian defence ministry.
Operations in Luhansk Oblast On 19 September, video footage confirmed that Ukrainian forces had liberated the village of
Bilohorivka in
Luhansk Oblast, signifying that Russia no longer maintained full control of the region. On 2 October, Ukrainian troops recaptured Dibrova in the
Luhansk Oblast.
Continued Ukrainian advances On 3 October, Ukrainian forces entered
Borova and Shyikivka in Kharkiv Oblast. Russian sources said that Ukrainian forces were conducting reconnaissance-in-force at and were planning to advance eastward from Kupiansk and Petropavlivka. By 5 October images appeared on social media of Ukrainian troops at the entrance sign to Hrekivka and
Makiivka, 20 km southwest of
Svatove. On 9 October,
Serhii Haidai reported that Ukrainian forces had recaptured seven more villages in
Svatove Raion: Novoliubivka, Nevske,
Hrekivka,
Nadiya, Andriivka, Novoiehorivka, and
Stelmakhivka. On 24 October, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces announced the recapture of four settlements: Nevske, Miasozharivka and Karmazynivka in
Luhansk Oblast, and Novosadove in
Donetsk Oblast. According to the Russian sources, Ukrainian forces also took control of the Kreminna-Svatove Highway. ==Reactions==