2024 Kharkiv offensive
| 2024 Kharkiv offensive | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the Russian invasion of Ukraine | |||||||||
The frontline on 12 May 2024 (details) | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
 Russia |
 Ukraine | ||||||||
| Units involved | |||||||||
| ...further details | ...further details | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
| 2,000 – 8,000[5] | Unknown | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
3 dead and 4 injured by Russian shelling[6] 8,779 displaced | |||||||||
On 10 May 2024, the Russian Armed Forces began an offensive operation in Ukraine's Kharkiv Oblast, shelling and attempting to breach the defenses of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in the direction of Vovchansk and Kharkiv.[7]
Background
In the first months of their invasion, the Russian Armed Forces managed to conquer large parts of northeastern Kharkiv Oblast, including the towns of Kupiansk, Izium, Shevchenkove, and Balakliia. Following a counteroffensive in September 2022, Ukrainian forces were able to recapture these settlements and push Russian forces out of almost the entire oblast.[8]
During the first months of 2024, reports appeared that the Russian army was rebuilding its forces in the north to launch a new offensive in the direction of Kharkiv later that year.[9][10][11] Kremlin Press Secretary Dmitry Peskov and Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov had also repeatedly threatened to attack Kharkiv Oblast and establish a buffer zone to protect Russia's Belgorod Oblast in response to cross-border attacks by Ukraine.[12][13] On 8 May 2024, the governor of Kharkiv Oblast, Oleh Syniehubov, reported a large gathering of Russian forces north of the region.[14][15] The secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksandr Lytvynenko, subsequently said that over 50,000 Russian soldiers had been deployed to the border.[16]
Offensive
Timeline
10 May
According to the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, Russian forces shelled positions with guided bombs in the direction of Vovchansk during the day and added artillery fire at night. An attempt to break through the front line was recorded at 5:00 am on 10 May.[17] Up to 4–5 Russian infantry battalions from a newly created force[18] crossed the state border, reportedly capturing the villages of Krasne, Borysivka, Strilecha, and Pylna.[17][19][20] Vovchansk came under heavy artillery fire overnight, which continued the following day. Ukraine's armed forces urged residents of northern Kharkiv Oblast to evacuate.[21][22] The secretary of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine, Oleksandr Lytvynenko, subsequently said that over 30,000 Russian soldiers were involved in the offensive.[16]
According to Ukrainian military journalist Yuri Butusov, the captured border area had been a "gray zone" behind the Ukrainian defensive line with no Ukrainian military presence, with the exception of Strilecha.[19][23] Syniehubov also referred to the affected villages as a "gray zone",[24] claiming that "the Ukrainian armed forces have not lost a single meter".[25] According to DeepStateMap.Live analysts, citing confidential sources, Russian forces had occupied the village of Pylna several days before 10 May, but poor communication within the Ukrainian military had prevented any action from being taken.[26]
Later in the afternoon, reserve units were sent to Kharkiv Oblast to hold the front line, according to the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.[27]
Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that artillery had thus far been able to repel the Russian offensive in Kharkiv Oblast and that Russia may pull more reserves to support the offensive but that Ukraine's armed forces were ready to resist them.[28]
Later that day a senior Ukrainian commander said that Russian forces had pushed Ukrainian forces back by one kilometer from the Russian-Ukrainian border and were aiming to advance 10 kilometers into Ukraine. The border city of Vovchansk was subjected to "massive shelling" and residents were evacuated.[29]
Fighting was also reported in the villages of Pletenivka, Hatyshche,[30] Hoptivka,[31] Morokhovets,[32] Oliinykove and Ohirtseve.[33] Russian bloggers claimed that Pletenivka, Hatyshche, Ohirtseve and Zelene had come under Russian control, according to the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), which was unable to verify the claims.[34] Ukraine's 42nd Mechanized Brigade published footage of its "Perun" unit destroying four Russian BMP infantry fighting vehicles in the area of Pylna using combat drones, claiming to have inflicted several casualties.[35][36]
A member of the Ukrainian partisan movement Atesh allegedly serving in the Russian military claimed that parts of his unit, a motorised rifle battalion of the 44th Army Corps, refused to participate in the assault on Kharkiv Oblast, owing to the failure of previous sabotage and reconnaissance and the strength of Ukrainian fortifications.[37]
By 10 May, Russian forces, according to the ISW, had seized around "35 square miles of territory", although Ukrainian forces claimed to have pushed Russian forces back.[38]
11 May
The Ukrainians claimed to have destroyed 20 Russian units of armored equipment during the previous day's offensive. Nazar Voloshyn, spokesman of Ukraine's Khortytsia operational-strategic group, claimed that the Russians were contained in the "gray zone" and that the offensive had effectively been repelled.[39]
According to the ISW, geolocated footage published on 11 May indicated that Morokhovets, Oliinykove and Ohirtseve had come under Russian control.[40][41] Russian military bloggers claimed that Russian forces had also captured the villages of Hoptivka, Kudiivka and Tykhe, and were trying to advance into Vovchansk, though the think tank said it had not observed evidence to verify these claims.[40] The Russian defence ministry claimed in a briefing that its forces had taken five villages: Strilecha, Pylna, Borysivka, Ohirtseve and Pletenivka.[42]
12 May
The Russian Ministry of Defence claimed that its forces had captured the villages of Hatyshche, Krasne, Morokhovets and Oliinykove.[43]
Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi wrote on Telegram that the situation in Kharkiv Oblast had "significantly worsened".[44] Amid claims by Russian and Ukrainian sources of combat within Vovchansk, ISW assessed that Hatyshche, Pletenivka and Tykhe had come under Russian control.[41]
13 May
Ukrainian outlets Rubryka and Ukrainska Pravda reported that the DeepState map indicated that Russian forces had taken control over the village of Zelene, while the village of Lukiantsi was almost wholly occupied.[45][46]
Ukrainian forces claimed to have killed over 100 Russian soldiers in the last 24 hours in northern Kharkiv Oblast. Some five Russian battalions were involved in Vovchansk. Ukrainian officials acknowledged that Russian forces had made "tactical gains" and that Ukrainian forces appeared to be avoiding direct engagements with Russian forces. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said on Facebook that its forces were "conducting defensive operations, inflicting fire damage on the enemy, widely using unmanned systems for reconnaissance and launching pinpoint strikes to inflict maximum damage" adding that reserves were being deployed to "stabilize the situation."[47]
14 May
The Ukrainian military announced that its forces had "changed positions" in Lukiantsi "to save the lives" of its soldiers due to ongoing Russian attacks.[48]
16 May
President Zelenskyy arrived in Kharkiv to meet with the top brass of the Ukrainian military and said that the situation in Kharkiv is "very difficult but under control".[49][50]
Battle of Vovchansk
Russian troops advanced towards Vovchansk following the capture of Zelene and Lukiantsi on 12 May,[51] and managed to capture the Vovchansky meat processing plant located north of the town.[52] The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said on Instagram that "at the moment, the enemy has tactical success".[53] Forbes reported that Ukrainian forces deployed Swedish CV90s in Vovchansk.[54]
On 13 May, a shoe factory in the north of the town was captured in the morning and Russian troops advanced into the center of Vovchansk up to the northern (right) bank of the river Vovcha by evening, according to Russian milbloggers.[52]
Analysis
The offensive comes at a time when the limited Ukrainian troops were already stretched across a 1,000+ km frontline, forcing partial troop pull backs from other areas such as Kupiansk. Noting a small buildup of Russian forces near Sumy Oblast, Kiev warned that the current operation may be a precursor to a larger summer offensive. Pasi Paroinen, an analyst with the Black Bird Group, also assessed that the Kharkiv push aimed to deplete limited Ukrainian reserves before a main offensive. Notably, he said: "If Ukraine overcommits in Kharkiv and Sumy, they may preserve some territory there, perhaps prevent Kharkiv civilians from suffering artillery bombardments, perhaps even push back the enemy back to the border, but it may cost them the war, if the reserves are not available to respond to crises during the Russian summer offensive."[55] In a lighter tone, David Axe, a military correspondent for Forbes, suggested that the offensive might be "an elaborate feint" whose main goal was to pull Ukrainian resources away from Chasiv Yar and the area of Avdiivka.[2]
Impact
As of 16 May 2024, at least 8,779 residents have been evacuated from areas of Kharkiv Oblast affected by the fighting,[56] particularly in Kharkiv, Bohodukhiv and Chuhuiv raions.[57]
Casualty claims
The Ukrainian Armed Forces General Staff claimed on 15 May that Russia lost 710 soldiers killed and injured, as well as 125 units of military equipment, since 10 May.[58] Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said that Russian forces summarily executed at least one civilian in Vovchansk.[59]
See also
- List of military engagements during the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- Battle of Balakliia
- Battle of Kupiansk
- 2023 Ukrainian counteroffensive
- Battle of Chasiv Yar
- Battle of Krasnohorivka
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