Invasion: The Inside Story of Russia's Bloody War and Ukraine's Fight for Survival

by Luke Harding

The attack on the Kherson front was one of the greatest deception exercises in modern warfare. Yes, the operation was genuine. But it masked a stunning and much bigger counteroffensive around the city of Kharkiv in the northeast of the country. There, Ukrainian troops assembled unnoticed, punching through flimsy Russian defensive lines and advancing into territory held by Moscow for six months. Many Russian soldiers had been sent to the south; those left behind suddenly found themselves overwhelmed and swamped. In early September, Ukraine’s armed forces recaptured almost all of Kharkiv Oblast. They freed more than approximately eight thousand square kilometers of territory in a few astonishing days. It had taken Russia four months to capture a comparable area during its grinding assault in the east. The Ukrainians liberated towns and villages all the way up to the international border with Russia. First, they encircled Balakliia, raising the national flag. Then they pressed north into Kupiansk, a rail and supply hub. After that, they secured Izium, a major Russian base and arms depot that had been at the heart of the Kremlin’s operation to conquer the Donbas.