[30][31] However, the majority of the oblast remained within Ukrainian control, including the city of Kharkiv, where the Russian military continuously bombarded with rockets, artillery, and cluster munitions until August.

[36] The battle lines in Kharkiv Oblast remained largely static over the next few months as Ukrainian and Western military analysts believed Russia lacked the ground forces to renew its offensive.

[37] By September 2022, Oleksandr Syrskyi, who had been in charge of the defense of Kyiv at the beginning of the invasion and later received the title of Hero of Ukraine for his service, was appointed to command the Ukrainian land forces in Kharkiv Oblast.

While the Kherson offensive might have been genuine, Western analysts view it as part of a ploy to divert Russian forces away from Kharkiv prior to Ukraine's much larger eastern counteroffensive.

[40] The Washington Post described the fall of Izium on 10 September as a "stunning rout";[54] the Institute for the Study of War assessed that Ukrainian forces had captured approximately 2,500 square kilometres (970 sq mi) in the breakthrough.

Based on footage of the man, it was speculated that he was Lieutenant General Andrei Sychevoi, Commander of the Western Military District of the Russian Armed Forces.

[67] Local residents later reported that at this point Russian soldiers in the area began to flee villages, leaving behind their weaponry, before Ukrainian troops even arrived.

[68] Later in the day Ukrainian forces reached Kupiansk, a vital transit hub at the junction of several of the main railway lines supplying Russian troops at the front.

[79][80] The New York Times said "the fall of the strategically important city of Izium, in Ukraine's east, is the most devastating blow to Russia since its humiliating retreat from Kyiv.

[citation needed] Financial Times attributed western-supplied HIMARS as one of the reasons that enabled Ukraine to overpower Russian forces in merely 6 days, over a span of 90 km (roughly the distance between London and Cambridge), and recover more than 2,500 km2 of land.

[102] Following the offensive, David Axe, a Forbes journalist, citing Ukrainian figures, reported that tens of thousands of Russian soldiers had been killed, captured or had deserted.

He also stated that the Tank Army's 2nd Guards Motorized Rifle Division, also consisting of two regiments, had also largely been destroyed and rendered unfit for combat as a result of the offensive.

[113] On 15 September, some Russian sources claimed Ukrainian forces set up artillery positions at Hryanykivka, across from Dvorichna on the east side of the Oskil River.

[119] On 19 September, video footage confirmed that Ukrainian forces had liberated the village of Bilohorivka in Luhansk Oblast, signifying that Russia no longer maintained full control of the region.

Thus it is "consistent with previous reporting on continued Ukrainian efforts to penetrate the current Russian defensive lines that run along the Oskil River and push eastward.

"[121] On 23 September Ukrainian Armed Forces liberated the village of Yatskivka in Donetsk Oblast according to Oleksii Hromov, deputy head of operations directorate of the general staff of UAF.

The settlement is on the east side of the Oskil River in Kharkiv Oblast, located 35 kilometres (22 mi) northwest of Lyman and directly south of Borova.

[129] On 28 September, Ukrainian forces entered the town of Novoselivka located in the Donetsk region, a strategic crossing point about 12 km northwest of Lyman, on the left bank of the Oskil River.

Retired US Lieutenant General, Ben Hodges, revealed that "[the recapture of Lyman] puts in bright lights that [Putin's] claim is illegitimate and cannot be enforced.

"[139] On 7 September 2022, a day after the start of the Ukrainian offensive, Putin claimed during his speech at the Eastern Economic Forum in Vladivostok that "We have not lost anything and will not lose anything" in the war in Ukraine.

[143] Russian state-funded media later criticized the defeat, with a pro-Kremlin tabloid blaming "supply and manpower shortages, poor coordination, and tactical mistakes orchestrated by military officials".

[144] The former separatist commander and pro-war military blogger Igor Girkin claimed that Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu should be executed by firing squad, and he publicly expressed his belief that "the war in Ukraine will continue until the complete defeat of Russia.

[149][150] Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov questioned Russian leadership of the war, writing on Telegram:[151] "They have made mistakes and I think they will draw the necessary conclusions.

[170] Ukraine's successes in Kharkiv Oblast served as a crucial confidence boost for Kyiv, which is increasingly reliant on its Western allies for military aid.

[179] Exhumation of the bodies from Izium mass graves buried in Pishanske cemetery started on 15 September, and the police revealed that most victims were civilians.

[180] Some bodies of civilians and soldiers had traces of torture, hands tied and rope around their necks, suggesting they were not killed in battle or bombing, but executed as prisoners.

[181] Russian diplomats dismissed the claims as a "provocation"[182] and Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov rejected Ukraine's accusations as a "lie",[183] but satellite images that Maxar published confirmed presence of the graves before the Ukrainian counteroffensive.

[189] However, the counteroffensives in Kherson and Kharkiv ultimately brought forward the 2022 annexation referendums in Russian-occupied Ukraine, which Russian officials rescheduled from November to late September 2022.

[196][197] On 9 October, Serhii Haidai reported that Ukrainian forces had recaptured seven more villages in Svatove Raion: Novoliubivka, Nevske, Hrekivka, Nadiya, Andriivka, Novoiehorivka, and Stelmakhivka.

[201][202] In early December, Ukrainian forces broke through Russian lines around Chervonopopivka, with fighting mostly centered west of the R-66 highway connecting Kreminna and Svatove.