Russians would fight where Ukrainians chose to attack them
In the autumn of 2022, the arc of a war many had feared was settling into grim stalemate bent suddenly and sharply in Ukraine's favor. Over six days in September, Ukrainian forces recaptured Izyum and surrounding cities in the Kharkiv region, demonstrating that Western military aid had not merely sustained Ukraine's resistance but had fundamentally altered who held the initiative on the battlefield. What unfolded was not simply a tactical reversal — it was a moment that forced both sides, and the world watching them, to reckon with the possibility that the story of this war was still unwritten.
- Ukrainian forces shattered Russian defensive lines in the Kharkiv region in just six days, recapturing the strategic railway hub of Izyum and erasing months of Russian territorial gains.
- Western artillery systems — HIMARS, M777 howitzers, and Caesar guns — gave Ukraine the precision to strike deep behind Russian lines, turning supply routes and command posts into liabilities rather than assets.
- The collapse reverberated inside Russia almost immediately, with military bloggers, officers, and soldiers publicly venting fury and disbelief across Telegram and social media in ways the Kremlin could not easily suppress.
- Moscow withdrew key units from Kharkiv entirely, but the retreat compounded the damage — signaling to the Russian public that the 'special operation' narrative was fracturing under the weight of battlefield reality.
- The critical question now is whether Ukraine can sustain its momentum before logistics and exhaustion force a pause, and whether this breakthrough marks a true turning point or a dramatic episode in a war still far from resolved.
In mid-September 2022, Ukrainian forces did something Russian military leadership had not prepared for: they broke through defensive lines in the Kharkiv region and advanced faster than Moscow could respond. Over six days, troops pushed east and southeast from Kharkiv city, dismantling what Russian commanders had believed were solid positions. On September 10, Ukraine reclaimed Izyum — a strategic railway hub Russia had used all summer to supply its westward push — along with Balaklia and Kupyansk. The tactical map of the Donbass conflict had been redrawn.
The shift was not accidental. It traced back to the summer, when Western military aid began arriving in serious volume. Artillery systems that had seemed distant possibilities — HIMARS rocket systems, M777 howitzers, French Caesar guns, German self-propelled artillery — gave Ukraine something Russia lacked: the ability to strike with precision far behind the front lines. Bridges, ammunition depots, and command posts became vulnerable. As analyst Mick Ryan observed, Ukraine now held the initiative; Russians would fight where Ukrainians chose to attack, not where Russian commanders preferred to defend.
The psychological damage inside Russia was immediate and public. Military bloggers and figures like former intelligence officer Igor Girkin posted bitter recriminations about the losses. Soldiers vented on Telegram. The morale collapse was not concealed — it was broadcast by people with credibility in military circles, making it impossible to dismiss.
Moscow pulled forces from Kharkiv entirely, but the withdrawal carried its own costs. Putin had never formally declared war, calling the invasion a 'special operation' — a framing that allowed him to avoid general mobilization and preserve a degree of public passivity. With territory now being lost, that fiction grew harder to sustain.
Whether Ukraine could hold its momentum remained the open question. Logistics and endurance would determine how long the offensive push could last before exhaustion forced a pause. Russia still held vast stretches of Ukrainian territory. The breakthrough in Kharkiv had shifted the initiative from Moscow to Kyiv — but whether it would prove a turning point or a temporary reversal in a much longer war was a question the battlefield had not yet answered.
In mid-September 2022, Russian military leadership faced a reality it had not publicly acknowledged before: Ukrainian forces had broken through their defensive lines in the Kharkiv region and were advancing faster than Moscow could respond. For six days, Ukrainian troops pushed east and southeast from the city of Kharkiv itself, shattering what Russian commanders had apparently believed were solid defensive positions. The breakthrough was so complete that it rewrote the tactical map of the entire Donbass conflict. On September 10, Ukrainian forces reclaimed Izyum, a strategic railway hub that Russia had used all summer to supply its westward push. The city had fallen in the opening days of the February invasion and remained under Russian control for months until Ukrainian troops withdrew in late March. Now it was back in Ukrainian hands.
The shift in momentum was not accidental. It arrived in the summer when Western military aid began flowing into Ukraine in serious volume. Artillery systems that had seemed almost mythical months earlier—HIMARS rocket systems, M777 howitzers, French-made Caesar guns, German Panzerhaubitze self-propelled artillery—suddenly gave Ukrainian forces something Russia did not have: the ability to strike with precision at targets far behind the front lines. Russian command posts, ammunition depots, and especially the bridges across the Dnieper River that supplied Russian forces became vulnerable in ways they had not been before. Mick Ryan, a retired Australian major general and analyst at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, put it plainly: the Ukrainians now held the initiative. Russians would fight where Ukrainians chose to attack them, not where Russian commanders preferred to defend.
The psychological impact inside Russia was immediate and visible. Military bloggers and officers who had spent months celebrating advances now erupted in anger and recrimination. Igor Girkin, a former Russian intelligence officer who had been instrumental in Russia's 2014 intervention in the Donbass and remained an influential voice among military circles, posted sarcastically about the loss of Izyum, Balaklia, and Kupyansk—three cities now back under Ukrainian control. Soldiers themselves took to Telegram to voice dismay and fury at their commanders. The morale collapse was not hidden; it was broadcast across Russian social media by people with credibility within military circles.
Moscow's response was to reposition its forces, pulling important units out of the Kharkiv region entirely. But this decision carried its own costs. Withdrawing forces from a region that had been the centerpiece of Russian strategy for months sent a signal to the Russian public and to potential recruits that the war was not going as the Kremlin had promised. Putin had never formally declared war on Ukraine, instead calling the invasion a "special operation." That linguistic choice had allowed him to avoid a general mobilization that might have alarmed Russian society or disrupted the passive acceptance many Russians had shown toward the conflict. But now, with forces being pulled back and territory being lost, the fiction became harder to maintain.
The question that hung over the battlefield in mid-September was whether Ukraine could sustain its momentum. Ryan noted that the decisive factors would be logistics and endurance. Ukrainian forces could likely maintain their offensive push for a week or two before exhaustion and supply constraints forced them to pause. In that window, they could inflict serious damage on Russian positions and consolidate their gains. But the war was far from over. Russia still held vast stretches of Ukrainian territory. The question was whether the psychological and tactical shift that had occurred in Kharkiv—the moment when the initiative passed from Moscow to Kyiv—would prove to be a turning point or merely a temporary reversal in a much longer conflict.
Citas Notables
The Ukrainians now have the initiative. The Russians will now fight where the Ukrainians decide to attack them and not in places of their choice.— Mick Ryan, retired Australian major general, Center for Strategic and International Studies
A brilliant operation to transfer the cities of Izyum, Balaklia and Kupyansk to our respected Ukrainian partners— Igor Girkin, former Russian intelligence officer, in sarcastic post about territorial losses
La Conversación del Hearth Otra perspectiva de la historia
Why did the Russian defenses in Kharkiv collapse so suddenly? They'd held the line for months.
The weapons changed the equation. When HIMARS and precision artillery arrived in volume, Russia couldn't protect its supply lines anymore. You can't defend a front when your ammunition depots and command posts are being hit from fifty kilometers away.
But Russia has more soldiers, more tanks. Why couldn't they just hold ground?
Holding ground requires logistics. You need food, ammunition, fuel moving forward constantly. Once those supply lines get cut—and Western artillery made that possible—soldiers become immobilized. They can't fight without supplies.
The source mentions Putin never declared war. How does that matter now?
It means he never mobilized the full Russian economy or population. He kept it as a "special operation" to avoid disrupting Russian society. Now that territory is being lost, that fiction is harder to maintain. He can't suddenly declare total war without admitting he was wrong.
What about the soldiers themselves? What were they saying?
Fury. Military bloggers and officers were posting on Telegram about the incompetence of their commanders. Igor Girkin, someone with real credibility in those circles, was posting sarcasm about handing cities to Ukraine. When your own people are mocking you publicly, morale doesn't recover quickly.
Can Ukraine actually sustain this offensive?
That's the real question. They have maybe a week or two before logistics and exhaustion force them to consolidate. In that window they can do enormous damage. But Russia still controls most of the territory it took. This is a shift in momentum, not the end of the war.
So what happens next?
It depends on whether Ukraine can hold what it's recaptured and whether Russia can stabilize its forces. The psychological damage is already done—both to Russian morale and to the narrative Putin has been selling. That's harder to repair than a broken defensive line.