De-occupation of Kharkiv region
On September 6, 2022, the Ukrainian Defense Forces began a counteroffensive on the occupied territories in the east, southeast and north of Kharkov. As of September 13, 2022, as noted by the Ministry of Defense, the Ukrainian military liberated more than 300 settlements.
In an evening video message on September 7, 2022, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky noted:
“This week we have good news from Kharkiv region. And I think every citizen feels proud of our warriors. Now is not the time to name those or other settlements to which the Ukrainian flag is returning.
On the same day, Ukrainian servicemen from the special purpose brigade named after. Ivan Bogun posted a video showing the flag of the occupiers being removed from the mast in the village of Nova Husarivka near Balakliya.
On September 8, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirmed information about the liberation of more than 20 settlements as a result of successful actions of the Ukrainian Defense Forces in Kharkiv region.
“Within the framework of the defense operation in the Kharkiv direction in order to recover the lost territories since the beginning of the week, the Armed Forces of Ukraine in cooperation with units of the National Guard and other security forces have been conducting active actions in certain directions,” said Deputy Chief of the Main Operational Department of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksiy Gromov V.
On the same day, the Armed Forces of Ukraine raised the Ukrainian flag on the main square of Balakliya, Izyum district. Later, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed the liberation of the settlement.
On September 9, the Armed Forces of Ukraine took control of more than 30 settlements in Kharkiv region, said President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky. Among the liberated points after half a year of occupation Balakliya, Volokhiv Yar, Hrakove, Artemivka, Vasilenkovo, Shevchenkove, Bayrak, Shchurivka, Vilkhovatka.
In the deoccupied villages, the National Police began to resume work and to process information about collaborators, to find places of mass burials of civilians and Russian martyrs, in which Russian terrorist forces detained Ukrainian citizens during the occupation.
In the morning of September 10, the 92nd Brigade of the Armed Forces of Ukraine published a photo with the Ukrainian contingent from Kupyansk, which has been under occupation since February 27.
The commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of the Armed Forces Alexander Syrsky said that the liberation of part of the city is still ongoing. It also became known about the de-occupation of Izyum, which had been under occupation since April.
In the evening of September 10, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky announced that about 2 thousand square kilometers of Ukrainian territory have been liberated from Russian occupiers.
On the morning of September 11, the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Valery Zaluzhny reported that since the beginning of September, the Armed Forces have returned more than 3 thousand square kilometers under the control of Ukraine. And they went not only to the east and south, but also to the north of Kharkiv region.
Ukrainian flags were raised in Savintsi, Kozachiy Lopan, Liptsi.
On September 12, the Minister of Internal Affairs of Ukraine Denis Monastyrsky stated that the units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the territories liberated from the enemy have begun work to restore order and security and it has a wide range of issues: from fixing enemy war crimes, to restoring energy supply and preparing for heating of the season. According to the Minister, it became possible to carry out such work in settlements of Kharkiv region liberated by Ukrainian troops and cleared by the National Guard and National Police.
“In settlements that are completely taken over by us, we encounter a large number of war crimes. Only in Kharkiv region at this moment we are talking about more than 40 war crimes, which were immediately recorded by those investigators who entered the de-occupied territories,” Denis Monastyrsky said.
He also reported that first of all those police units that were withdrawn during the occupation are returning to the liberated territories. These are, in particular, local police officers of the community, local heads of regional police departments, who will restore Ukrainian law order to the liberated cities and villages.
Another equally important and complex aspect of the work of the units of the Ministry of Internal Affairs in the de-occupied territories Denis Monastyrsky called large-scale demining.
At the same time, after the liberation of Kharkiv region, the Russian terrorist armed forces, feeling their powerlessness and helplessness on the battlefield, began to massively fire rockets at Kharkiv and the region, and then the entire territory of Ukraine, destroying civilian critical infrastructure — primarily energy, transport, and more and educational and health institutions, as well as residential buildings of Ukrainians.
On the night of September 12, 2022, as a result of enemy shelling of Nikolaev, Voznesensk and Berezneguvate, 15 high-rise buildings and 45 private residential buildings, office premises, vehicles, warehouses and a shop were destroyed.
And in Kharkiv and the region, it flew over critical infrastructure objects. There was a fire in the equipment of the facility and in the administrative building, which was also heavily damaged. Two workers were killed. At the time of the arrival of rescuers, the total area of the fire was more than 1000 square meters.
12 operational units of the State Emergency Service on tankers, specialists of the military-civil administration, municipal and emergency services took part in the work to eliminate the consequences of the enemy strike. To extinguish the fire, the firemen served 9 water and 2 foam barrels.
Read about the massive shelling of critical infrastructure later below. This is a separate story of the indestructibility of Ukrainians, in which angels are our rescuers of the State Emergency Service, who saved thousands of people from the rubble and flames of fires due to Russian rocket attacks.
On September 13, 2022, a consolidated detachment of the State Emergency Service begins work in the liberated territories of the Kharkiv region. The unit consisted of rescuers and pyrotechnicians of Kharkiv, Poltava, Rivne garrisons, as well as the city of Kiev, the Interregional Rapid Response Center and the Interregional Center for Humanitarian Demining and Rapid Response of the SNS.
The combined unit of the State Emergency Service, with a total of 150 personnel and 50 units of equipment, will carry out emergency rescue, restoration work and cleaning of the newly liberated areas of the region from explosive devices.
On September 14, the American Institute for the Study of War reported that the Kremlin, for the first time since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, had actually acknowledged its defeat in the Kharkiv region.
“Kremlin officials and state media propagandists discuss extensively the reasons for Russia's defeat in the Kharkiv region, which is a marked change from their previous pattern of covering exaggerated or fabricated Russian successes with limited details,” the statement said.
During the visit of the President of Ukraine on September 14, the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration Oleg Synegubov said that 16 communities were de-occupied in Kharkiv region, seven communities were partially liberated. About 6% of the territory remains under occupation, before the counteroffensive 32% of the region was occupied.
On September 15, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky reported that a mass burial of people was found in the de-occupied Izyum in Kharkiv region, from which about 450 bodies were exhumed over the following months. Also, the head of state announced that almost the entire Kharkiv region is de-occupied. The Ukrainian military during the counteroffensive liberated 421 settlements.
Demining and documenting war crimes of the Russian Federation: consolidated police detachments work in the de-occupied territories of Kharkiv region. For this purpose, special investigative and operational teams have been created in the National Police, which are equipped with mobile forensic laboratories.
Investigators of the Main Investigative Department of the National Police, who are involved in documenting war crimes, explosives and forensics from different regions of the country, work on the territories liberated from the Russian occupiers in the territories of the Kharkiv region.
More than 20 specialized investigative and operational teams with mobile forensic laboratories are involved in documenting war crimes alone. This was announced by the head of the National Police Igor Klymenko on September 15.
“The Russian military often chose the local police building as their headquarters. How much effort and time we put in to bring these premises into order. And here is a complete destruction, disassembled service cars in the yards. The liberated territories are filled with pain and horror. Locals have forgotten what a sense of security is. Therefore, we urgently need to strengthen the police presence here and document all the war crimes of the occupiers. Of course, collaborators can not sleep peacefully either. We will establish all those who collaborated and helped the enemy,” Igor Klymenko said at the time, saying that about 1000 police officers work daily in the de-occupied territories of Kharkiv region.
In the liberated territories, 16 checkpoints and 21 checkpoints are additionally deployed, where police officers are on duty, more than 30 investigative teams operate. Over the past week, 204 criminal proceedings have been opened, which are related to war crimes of the Russian Federation.
The head of the National Police Igor Klymenko spoke about the terrible consequences of the long stay of the enemy in the territory of Kharkiv region:
“We can talk about the atrocities that have taken place in our cities. Going to Balaklia or Izyum, we see a huge number of crimes committed against the civilian population. “There were 10 victims.”
Igor Klymenko noted that one of the torture chambers was located in Balakliya — in the local police station, where about 40 people were held in cells. People were held in terrible conditions for up to 48 days, bullied and tortured. Another torture house with inhumane conditions of detention was located in the premises of the printing house:
“There was torture — we saw traces of electrical bare wires on people's hands, which were run on when interrogated. Hammers and dowels were found. We are now carrying out investigative measures to establish the extent of the damage received by people.”
According to Igor Klymenko, the Russians arranged six more torture chambers in the city of Izyum, which was practically destroyed.
In Kharkiv region, the State Migration Service resumed the provision of services in the city of Pervomaisky. Due to the armed aggression of the Russian Federation and the occupation, many residents of Kharkiv region were left without documents. Providing the population with valid identity documents is today one of the most important tasks of the State Migration Service of Ukraine.
Deputy head of the State Emergency Service Roman Primush said that about 12 thousand square kilometers in Kharkiv are in need of demining, and the roads of the liberated territories are covered with anti-personnel mines. He also reported that 129 fire technicians of the State Emergency Service already work in the area. By October, it is planned to double their number.
On September 20, the bodies of 263 dead, including two children, were recovered from a mass burial site in Izyum. This was reported by the portal of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of Ukraine. Traces of torture, bound hands, bullet holes, fractures, mine and blast injuries — the police extend the recovery of the bodies of the dead in the city of Izyum.
In total, there are 450 graves of murdered and buried citizens in the forest and one mass grave of Ukrainian servicemen.
The exhumation of the bodies from the mass burial site in Izyum in Kharkiv region has been completed. This was announced by the head of the National Police of Ukraine Igor Klymenko on September 24, 2022.
Work continued for a week continuously. 447 bodies of the dead were recovered from the graves. Of these, 215 women, 194 men, 5 children, as well as 22 military personnel. In addition, they found the remains of 11 individuals whose gender is currently impossible to determine.
“Many bodies with traces of torture. Police forensics and forensic experts face a difficult task — to identify the body of each deceased. Relatives should bury them humanely,” said the head of the National Police Igor Klymenko.
