Ukraine has launched a surprise counterattack in the north-east Kharkiv region, stretching Russian forces who are also facing Ukrainian attacks in the south. 

An official representing the Russian-controlled Donetsk People’s Republic said on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces “encircled” Balakliia, an eastern town of 27,000 people situated between Kharkiv and Russian-occupied Izium. 

“Today, the Ukrainian armed forces, after prolonged artillery preparation … began an attack on Balakliia,” Daniil Bezsonov said on Telegram. 

“At this time, Balakliia is in operative encirclement and within the firing range of Ukrainian artillery. All approaches are cut off by fire,” he said, adding that a successful Ukrainian offensive would threaten Russian forces in Izium, a strategically important town that Russia has been using for its own offensive in eastern Ukraine. 

Unverified footage circulating on social media on Wednesday showed what looked like a Ukrainian soldier posing in front of an entrance sign for Balakliia. 

Analysts have said that the initial target of the offensive could be the city of Kupyansk, a key road hub for Russian supplies heading south from the border into eastern Ukraine. 

Ukraine’s army has yet to comment on the alleged offensive. 

One of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s advisers, Oleksiy Arestovych, said on Tuesday night that “lightning-fast changes are taking place” in the Kharkiv region, in parallel to the southern offensive in the Kherson region announced by Ukraine’s military last week. 

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a Washington-based thinktank, reported on Wednesday that Ukrainian forces probably captured Verbivka (less than 3km north-west of Balakliia) on Tuesday, citing geo-locatable images posted by Ukrainian soldiers. 

Without specifying any locations, the Luhansk regional governor, Serhiy Haidai, told Ukrainian television on Wednesday that a “counterattack is under way and … our forces are enjoying some success. Let’s leave it at that.” 

Ukraine’s military did give some confirmation of the alleged offensive on Wednesday claiming Ukraine’s army shot down a Russian military Sukhoi Su-25 aircraft near Volokhiv Yar, a town about 12 miles from Balakliia.

(Source: The Guardian)