Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 will include a portion of the Ukrainian Kharkiv counteroffensive.
Liberated Balakliia's UA flag, image date 6–8, September 2022 (2 days)
Location Balakliia, Ukraine's Kharkiv Oblast
Ukrainian triumph as a result
Entities at War Russia Ukraine
Russian commanders and leaders One Roman Berdnikov
Russia лександр Lapin Ukraine Alexis Syrskyi [2]
Russian Armed Forces personnel involved
SOBR Rosgvardiya Samara[3]
Ukrainian Armed Forces Russian Airborne Forces
92nd Mechanized Brigade[4] 92nd Separate Motorized Infantry Brigade SSI.svg
the 25th Airborne Assault Brigade[5] logo
Kraken logo.png Losses and casualties for the Kraken Regiment
Unknown Unknown \svte \s2022 Ukrainian invasion by Russia
On September 6, 2022, the Ukrainian Kharkiv counteroffensive started. The Battle of Balakliia was its opening engagement.
Contents
Background 1 Battle 2 Reaction 3 See also 4 References
Background
Much of eastern Kharkiv Oblast was taken over by Russian forces in the early stages of the 2022 invasion of Ukraine, including the towns of Kupiansk, Shevchenkove, and Balakliia.
[6] On March 3, 2022, Balakliia was successfully taken over without much of a struggle. The majority of the combat in Kharkiv Oblast occurred in the cities of Kharkiv and Izium from early March to early May. [7]
Russian soldiers seized Izium at the beginning of April, and by the beginning of May, Ukrainian forces had successfully defended Kharkiv.
[8]
[9] After that, as Russia and Ukraine concentrated their efforts on the cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk and the larger Donbas region, the frontline started to stagnate. [10]
Russian and Ukrainian media both emphasised reports of a Ukrainian counteroffensive in Kherson Oblast throughout July and August 2022, which finally culminated on August 29, 2022.
[11] Russian opposition was fierce, and Ukrainian soldiers suffered significant losses during the counteroffensive. [12] The battle for Balakliia started on the first day of the surprise counteroffensive launched by Ukrainian forces on September 6 in the eastern Kharkiv province. [13]
Battle
After concentrating a lot of their forces in the vicinity of Balakliia, Ukrainian forces launched an offensive there on September 6.
They liberated Verbivka [uk], a neighbourhood north of Balakliia, on the first day.
[15] Russian troops in Balakliia detonated bridges to halt the Ukrainian assault from Verbivka, but Ukrainian forces bypassed the town and besieged it instead. [14] While another group moved north toward Volokhiv Yar, some Ukrainian forces remained close to Balakliia and engaged Russian forces there. [16]
Balakliia was under siege by September 7 and fighting was occurring in the eastern and central regions of the city.
On September 8, the fighting came to an end with Ukrainian forces conquering the entire Balakliia.
[18]
[failed to verify]
Aftermath
Main articles: 2022 Ukrainian Kharkiv Counteroffensive and Russian Occupation of Kharkiv Oblast
Ukrainian forces liberated Kupiansk on September 9,[19] Izium on September 10,[20], Velykyi Burluk and Vovchansk on September 12, all in the days following the conflict.
In the basement of the Balakliia police station, on September 14, Ukrainian police officials discovered evidence of a torture chamber that held 40 citizens.
[22] The inhabitants who remained in the city asserted that Russian occupation forces were generally far more civilised in their treatment of civilians than they were in Bucha and Irpin, two other towns under Russian rule. [22]