Two days after punching through Russian defenses outside the city of Kharkiv, Ukrainian forces have fought all the way to Kupyansk, a critical node in Russia’s supply lines in Kharkiv Oblast in northeastern Ukraine.
Separately, Ukrainian troops farther south around Izium also are on the move. The twin attacks are closing a noose around 10,000 or more undersupplied, demoralized Russian troops caught between Ukrainian brigades in the south, west and north and the Oskil River in the east.
According to Ukrainian estimates, the Russians are losing as many as 600 troops a day as the Ukrainian counteroffensives gain momentum—not just around Kharkiv, but also in the south around the Russian-occupied port of Kherson. The Russian army hasn’t suffered losses this severe since the early weeks of Russia’s wider war on Ukraine.