Russia announced its position on the strategic riverbank in Kharkov

“After a successful attack, units of the Western Army took control of the Kalinovo residential area in Kharkov province,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in today’s combat update, referring to the residential area in Kharkiv. West bank of the Oskol River and about 6 km north of the important city of Kupyansk.

The agency also announced that the Southern army had taken control of the village of Yantarnoye in Donetsk province, southwest of the strategic stronghold of Kurakhovo that Ukraine lost earlier this week.

This is the first time the Russian Ministry of Defense has confirmed that its forces have crossed the Oskol River and gained a position in Ukraine’s fortified defense line in the area.

The Ukrainian army has not commented on the information.

The information was released two days after Andriy Besedin, head of Ukraine’s military agency in Kupyansk, said Russian units had broken through, established a bridgehead on the west bank of the Oskol River and were looking to gain more positions. in the town of Dvorichna, about 15 km north of Kupyansk.

Mr. Besedin warned that Russian forces could take advantage of these positions as a springboard to flank and attack the rear of Ukrainian units at the Kupyansk front. “The current situation is extremely dangerous,” Ukrainian officials said.

The Oskol River flows from Russia through Kharkiv Oblast in northeastern Ukraine. Russian forces crossed the river quickly and easily during the beginning of the war, but were pushed back to the east bank after Ukraine’s lightning counterattack campaign at the end of 2022. The two sides continuously reinforced their defense lines along the river because of this. It is both a military barrier and a psychological blockade.

“If Russian forces succeed in crossing the Oskol River, things will get really bad,” said Mick Ryan, an Australian military analyst.

Meanwhile, Kupyansk is a strategic transportation city, connecting the railway and road networks in northeastern Ukraine, located in Ukraine’s key defense line in Kharkov province.

The advance of Russian forces has gradually increased since August 2024, despite Ukraine suddenly launching a cross-border attack campaign against Kursk province. AFP assessed the last months of last year as the period when the Russian army advanced the fastest since March 2022, when they withdrew from the capital Kiev and northern Ukraine.

The US-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) on December 31, 2024 announced statistics on the war in Ukraine, showing that Russian forces in 2024 controlled an additional area with a total area of ​​3,985 km2, wide. 7 times more than the area they won in 2023.

Open source intelligence and geolocation data show that Russia holds more than 80% of the Donbass region, including Donetsk and Lugansk oblasts, 70% of the area of ​​Zaporizhzhia and Kherson oblasts, and 3% of the territory in Kharkov oblast.