From Balaklia to Izioum, on way to Ukrainian reconquest

The dazzling counter-offensive of kyiv launched on September 6 in the region of Kharkiv, northeast of the country, forced the Russian army to flee in dispersed order.

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The defeated Russian tank designer smokes a cigarette listening to, a smirk, the Ukrainian fighters victorious, asks him questions. “So, like that, you Russians, you want to release Ukraine? And you, bastard, you wanted to free us from what, who!?” The captive tries to convince the commander of the unit who did it prisoner that he did not wish the invasion of Ukraine. “I was against this war …”

In front of the Cathedral of the Ascension of Izioum, three women bring a pot of Varenyky to the potato (ravioli) to Ukrainian fighters. They thank their liberators for putting an end to the Russian military occupation. “Also give food to this bastard,” commands the officer. The prisoner receives his ration of ravioli.

“You have seen how we are greeted by the population! And you were welcomed like that when you arrived?” The tank player reflects five seconds, then replied that “even in [his] hometown, in Russia , we are not welcomed like that “. He makes some soldiers smile. “I can’t listen to this bastard, I want to kill it,” whispers a Ukrainian fighter, tightening my teeth. He departs and will find comrades sitting on the other side of the street, in front of the cathedral. Above them, perched in the bell tower, a soldier is watching and monitors the surroundings.

Women bring dishes cooked to the soldiers of the Ukrainian army who have just regained control of the Russian forces, in Izioum ( Ukraine), September 9, 2022. Laurent van der Stockt for “Le Monde”

“today marks the 200 days of our resistance”

The city of Izioum is the main conquest of the dazzling Ukrainian counter-offensive launched on September 6 in the Kharkiv region, in northeast of Ukraine. Once the front is pierced during ruded fights in Balaklia, the Russian army collapsed and its units fled in dispersed order. Faced with the debacle, Moscow announced, on September 10, having ordered the withdrawal of Izioum, where thousands of soldiers were being surrounded.

kyiv confirmed, Sunday evening, by the voice of President Volodymyr Zelensky, to have completed the catch of the city. Izioum is now the symbol of the way in which five days by assault become a turning point in a war. “Today marks the 200 days of our resistance. Our struggle for freedom, for independence,” said the Ukrainian president, before paying tribute to each corps and enumerating cities that have resisted or having been reconquered since the start of the war.

The decisive attack that broke the Russian defense took place, five days earlier, on the Balakliïa front. Captain Andriy Malakhov, war name “tuman” (“fog”), led one of the assaults at the head of 518 e battalion of 1 re sup> brigade of special forces Ivan Bohun, baptized by the name of a Cossack fighter from the 18th century ^e century become a national symbol in independent Ukraine.