The Ukrainian army took the Russian-occupied city of Balakleya in the Izyum district of the Kharkiv region into an operational encirclement, taking advantage of the redeployment of Russian forces to the Kherson direction. This may open the way for the Armed Forces of Ukraine to the city of Kupyansk and subsequently create a threat to the boiler for the Russian army in the Izyum region. Officially, the General Staff of Ukraine did not report on the operation. However, according to the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW) and The Insider sources, the Ukrainians were able to take at least Verbovka, as well as several other settlements.
ISW assumes that the UAF attack on Balakleya became possible thanks to their own offensive in the Kherson region. The Russians transferred part of their forces there, and as a result, the Ukrainians were able to take at least Verbovka, and the Russians retreated to the left bank of the Seversky Donets and across the Balakleyka River, blowing up bridges.
By destroying the crossings across the river, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have actually completely deprived the group of the occupying forces of the Russian Federation of food and ammunition supplies, the source of The Insider notes. This makes it possible to successfully develop offensive operations and lure Russian reserves closer to Kherson. While the main attention of the Russian military command was turned to the events in the Kherson direction, the Ukrainian troops managed to establish two crossings across the Seversky Donets River and regain control over the village of Ozernoe in the Donetsk region. Also, the northern group liberated the villages of Bazalievka and Lebyazhye.
Yesterday, the Armed Forces of Ukraine identified two small pockets to the north and south of Balakleya. Now the Ukrainian troops have begun to develop another operational direction: Volkhov Yar – Shevchenkovo. The capture of these points will allow establishing fire control over one of the most important logistic hubs for the northern group of invaders – the city of Kupyansk. The possible capture of Kupyansk under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine will outline a new front line along the Oskol River, and the Russian battalion tactical groups advancing on Izyum and Slavyansk will fall into the operational encirclement – the Armed Forces of Ukraine on the one hand and water barriers (the Oskol and Seversky Donets rivers) on the other. The grouping of Russian troops will be forced to leave the north and east of the Kharkov region.
The Insider's correspondent claims that Russian troops have started using 100mm KS-19 anti-aircraft guns from the 1940s, which are officially out of service. Also among the trophies of the Armed Forces of Ukraine there are Ukrainian BTR-4E and "museum" armored personnel carriers BTR-152 of the 1950s.
Earlier, Ukraine launched a counter-offensive in the Kherson direction: the Armed Forces of Ukraine took Novovoznesenskoe, said Roman Zavgorodniy, assistant to the People's Deputy of Ukraine.
The war correspondent of the propaganda publication Komsomolskaya Pravda, Alexander Kots, writes on Telegram that battles broke out along the line of the villages of Verbovka, Yakovenkovo, Taranushino and Volkhov Yar; it also recognizes Ukraine's successful counter-offensive. According to him, if the Armed Forces of Ukraine reach Kupyansk through Shevchenkovo, the “Izyum group” will be cut off from the mainland, the military will have to leave for the East through Oskol: “This, of course, is not a one-day process, but I would like to hope that Ukrainians will build on the success of the past day won't succeed."
At the same time, photos of the Ukrainian military with a flag at the entrance to the city appear on social networks, as well as “captured” equipment of the Russian troops.
In the anonymous Twitter account of the OSINT journalist Status-6, a record appeared, on which, allegedly, a Su-25 of the Russian Aerospace Forces, shot down by Ukrainian military personnel from MANPADS, falls in the Volkhov Yar area.
Also, a video appeared on the network of the likely destruction of the Russian S-300 battery in the vicinity of Balakleya.
On September 6, fierce battles began in the Balakleya region, the fighters of the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a counteroffensive. The Armed Forces of Ukraine occupied the northwestern part of the village of Verbovka, divided by the river into two parts. Armed Forces Colonel in the reserve, military expert Roman Svitan confirmed to The Insider that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are conducting counter-offensive operations, on Tuesday evening he claimed that the Russian "Izyum group" was almost surrounded. According to him, the Russian Federation supplies its group through Kupyansk from the Russian Valuyki and Belgorod via two railways. On the morning of September 7, Russian propaganda Telegram channels reported that fighters from the Samara and Bashkir Special Rapid Response Units (SOBR) had been taken into a cauldron near Balakleya. For example, the channel "Rosich | Rosich" at 22:13 wrote that the fighters of the Samara SOBR were surrounded and stopped communicating. His next message about SOBR near Balakleya ends with the words: “Samara! Bashkiria! Pray for them."