Seems that the Oskil River isn’t proving to be an impenetrable barrier or anything close. Consider the following reports.
Svatove is some 50km SE of Kupiansk, well into Luhansk Oblast. I don’t know if this is all the result of a continuing Ukrainian military assault in the Luhansk direction or, if it’s more of a “panic” attack, but it seems that Russian forces are doing their best imitation of a house of cards we’ve seen since their “strategic repositioning” from the Kiev burbs.
kyivindependent.com/… is reporting that Russian armed forces have fled the town of Svatove in Luhansk Oblast. Quoting from the article:
“According to the General Staff, four Russian Kamaz trucks and 20 Tigr infantry mobility vehicles left the settlement in the direction of Russian-occupied Luhansk.”
This is also reported from several Russian sources, as stated here:
Several Russian sources claim that Russian troops have left Svatove, Luhansk Oblast It hasn't been officially confirmed so far. Svatove is district capital 50 km from Kupiansk. Videos on Russian Telegram channels show lines of civilian cars leaving the city.
And this is also being reported here:
www.yahoo.com/…
Ukrainska Pravda
Sat, September 10, 2022 at 5:23 PM·2 min read
KATERYNA TYSHCHENKO — SUNDAY, 11 SEPTEMBER 2022, 12:23 AM
The head of the Luhansk Oblast Military Administration, Serhii Haidai, is expecting "excellent news" from the presently occupied cities of Svatove, Kreminna and Rubizhne in the near future.
Source: Serhii Haidai, head of Luhansk Oblast Military Administration on air during 24/7 national newscast on Saturday evening
Quote: "We should not expect that tomorrow we will liberate the whole of Luhansk Oblast. However, the advance is huge. The fighting is quite heavy, but [Russian] occupiers are fleeing from all the settlements. Soon, perhaps even tomorrow, we will hear great news from Svatove, from Kreminna, from Rubizhne."
Monday, Sep 12, 2022 · 1:22:08 AM +00:00
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tjampel
Update—blurb from CNN www.cnn.com/...
Here are more of the latest headlines from the Russia-Ukraine war:
- Ukrainian military: Russians flee strategic town in Luhansk: In a statement Sunday, the Ukrainian military's general staff said that Russian forces had abandoned the town of Svatove in Luhansk region, a town that until Saturday was still 40 kilometers (25 miles) beyond the known front line of the Ukrainian advance. Svatove has been an important hub on Russian resupply routes to the front lines further south - along the borders of Donetsk and Luhansk regions. "The occupiers have abandoned Svatove in Luhansk region," the general staff's office said in a Facebook post. "They rushed away in four Kamaz trucks, twenty Tigr AVs [armored vehicles] and stole over 20 cars of local residents." CNN cannot independently verify the Ukrainian account.