A week after the successful reclamation of the Kharkiv Oblast region, Ukrainian soldiers are riding on the momentum to push most, if not all, Russian troops out of the border. Ukraine has confirmed another counterattack in Kharkiv has begun, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky saying this is “not the time to name the towns where the Ukrainian flag is returning.” Instead, the president, who had just been in a car accident, said they wanted to maintain a strategic advantage over the Russians.

Russian sources reported that Ukrainian Ground Forces have continued to push operations in the southwest of Izyum, near Lyman, and on the east bank of Oskil River, according to the Institute of the Study of War. With the Ukrainians banking on the high morale of their troops, the Russian forces are reportedly struggling to hold their defense lines. The Ukrainian forces could push farther east if this keeps up over the weekend.

As Ukrainians kept on a steady pace today, they were able to expel Russian forces from Sosnove (north bank of Siverski Donets River), which is another critical location because of the settlements built by the Russians in the area. The Russian forces in Lyman, however, have reinforced their positions.

We can expect Ukrainian forces to advance across the Oskil River (northern part of Kharkiv Oblast). This is the time for them to establish bases and artillery positions throughout Kharkiv and solidify their positions in the region. It would be extremely troublesome if Kremlin pushed all of their forces to Kharkiv just to save face and reclaim the region. However, this seems unlikely as sources on the ground posted on Telegram saying Russian positions in the east of the Oskil River have been thinned out.

Ukrainian forces have also continued to disrupt Russian routes and logistics. However, they are having a hard time targeting forces in the Russian-occupied Luhansk Oblast (which covers Lysychansk, Perevalsk, Svitoldarsk, and Kadiivka). You can see this in the image below.