Vitaliy Karabanov, the head of the Balakliia City Military Administration, said this in a post on Telegram This shelling is yet another example of Russia’s ongoing targeted terror against civilians and civilian infrastructure,” he wrote the shelling occurred shortly after 5 a.m. Russian forces targeted Balakliia with drones The attack also caused destruction to the roof the Center for Children and Youth Creativity While citing and using any materials on the Internet links to the website ukrinform.net not lower than the first paragraph are mandatory citing the translated materials of foreign media outlets is possible only if there is a link to the website ukrinform.net and the website of a foreign media outlet Materials marked as "Advertisement" or with a disclaimer reading "The material has been posted in accordance with Part 3 of Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine "On Advertising" No 1996 and the Law of Ukraine "On the Media" No 2023 and on the basis of an agreement/invoice Online media entity; Media identifier - R40-01421 The October sun floods the courtroom with its cracked linoleum dotted with black specks This is the second autumn that Anatoliy Derevyanko spends back and forth between the prison and the court.  I hope it will be fair,” the accused said through a slot in the glass-walled dock.  - “What does ’fair’ mean to you?” Due to the prosecutor’s office pressure The prosecutor refuses to comment on anything or react to the remarks of the accused before the verdict is announced He asks to wait until his closing arguments Derevyanko does not expect leniency from him He is sure the prosecutor will ask the court for 5 years in prison - the maximum sentence There have been all kinds of sentences,” the accused says explaining that he got acquainted with the court practice during the year and a half of the trial.  Derevyanko has been in custody since March 2023. Initially a witness in the case, he did not think he would become a suspect. But the prosecution accused him of having profited from the occupation to become self-proclaimed manager of the Grain Storage Company of Balakliya during the Russian occupation of this city located in the Kharkiv region says the chief engineer was only taking care of his team and protecting economic property brought his client's case before the European Court of Human Rights to challenge the preventive measure “We filed a claim because of my client’s rights’ violation: his preventive measure of detention was continuously extended as the criminal offence is of a mild degree and there is an alternative in the form of bail or any other preventive measure This is too severe and disproportionate to the charges against him,” Chub explained Before the closing arguments on 24 October 2024 the defence asked the court to admit two documents to the case files: a letter of gratitude for charitable support to the Ukrainian army which and a character reference from the pre-trial detention centre “He tries to maintain friendly relations with his cellmates behaves politely when communicating with representatives of the administration and staff of the detention centre and complies with the legitimate demands of the staff” judge Svitlana Yashchenko reads out the document from the Kharkiv detention centre.  The prosecutor spends the next half hour voicing his position: he considers Derevyanko’s guilt thoroughly proven “Pursuing the goal of gaining profit and engaging in commercial activities in collaboration with the occupation administration of the aggressor state while under the occupation of the Balakliya territorial community of the Izyum district he willingly accepted to assume the position of acting director of the Grain Storage the head of the temporary civil administration of Balakliya According to the prosecution while under the Russian occupation and in the absence of the manager Derevyanko arbitrarily ran the company and conducted business in collaboration with the aggressor we conclude that Derevyanko confirmed having resumed work and having performed organisational and administrative functions at the said company,” the prosecutor says.  the prosecutor notes that the accused did not admit to collaborating with the occupation authorities and signing company documents “It was all done in order to preserve the company’s property out of the need to gain some money to survive and in the absence of an order to suspend work or to abandon the company.. this claim is the defendant’s right to self-defence an attempt to avoid criminal responsibility showing a lack of awareness and remorse for the crime and is refuted by the evidence in the criminal proceedings,” the prosecutor states.  As evidence of the defendant’s guilt the prosecutor invokes the seized documents and asks for a five-year prison sentence.  But even most of the prosecution witnesses supported Derevyanko, as the defence lawyer argued. MediaPort has previously published some depositions - in particular who said that he delivered his grain to the elevator because there was no other place to store it.  but he insisted that he did not sign any agreements with them nor receive any money If the occupiers did plan to take control of the company they did not have enough time to establish their own regulations one of the company’s employees and a witness in the case She considered all discussions of Balakliya becoming a part of the Belgorod region as “lunacy”: “they didn’t really understand what to do with it and suggested we go back to work and start by renovating our offices I was among those who went back to the elevator in order to earn as much as a jar of pâté to survive.. We would preserve what was left in the elevator We would weld shut certain storages to prevent them from being looted And he [Derevyanko] was like the head of our gang.”  The company’s contracts for farmers were translated into Russian but the basis for it was a previously used template in Ukrainian “These are contracts with the Ukrainians The prosecution did not introduce any representatives The Ukrainians helped the Ukrainians to preserve the grain was returned intact in the same volume as it was received Both the manager and the chief accountant confirmed that an inventory was carried out after the de-occupation and there was no financial damage,” Derevyanko’s defence lawyer Derevyanko repeated what he had said many times before He insisted that he “fulfilled his professional duties” and had no intention of collaborating with the occupiers “I went back to work for one month to help our Ukrainian farmers preserve the grain they had grown the company received payment for the work I performed Ukraine received a profit in the form of taxes It means that now you are prosecuting me for the fact that the state made a profit,” the defendant said.  judge Yashchenko returns from the deliberation room to announce the verdict: “Anatoliy Ivanovych Derevyanko is hereby found guilty of committing a criminal offence and sentenced to 4 years imprisonment with prohibition to hold positions related to administrative and executive functions for a period of 10 years [He] is suspended from serving the sentence of imprisonment with a probationary period of 3 years,” the judge read the ruling.  Derevyanko could not clearly hear the decision He only realised he was free when the court guard opened the door of the dock and his defence lawyer explained what had happened but your sentence is suspended for three years “If you don’t commit another offence during these three years you won’t be serving a prison sentence.”  Derevyanko came to the announcement of the verdict empty-handed: he did not take his belongings or passport His mood is cautiously optimistic. “I wasn’t ready I will try to get home,” Derevyanko says - “Do you know about the situation in the country?” - “And do you hear the explosions?”  As soon as Derevyanko was released from custody They are likely to meet again soon - this time in the appeal court Both the defence and the prosecutor’s office have thirty days to decide whether to appeal the decision This report is part of our coverage of war crimes justice produced in partnership with Ukrainian journalists. A first version of this article was published on the "MediaPort" website the firefighters localized a large-scale fire more than 55 miles (90 kilometers) from Kharkiv The Russian army occupied the city in March 2022 and Ukrainian troops liberated it during the Kharkiv counteroffensive in September 2022 Izium district is one of the most mined regions in Kharkiv Oblast because of Russian occupation—and that what’s complicates firefighters’ work 57 lifeguards with 17 units of SES equipment and 26 workers with 12 units of Balakliia forestry equipment have been working in the forest with the help of sappers checking the territories for equipment transportation for four days On April 20, a fire truck from Balakliia forestry blew up on an explosive object while extinguishing the fire Two foresters got a heavy stress reaction in the aftermath the lifeguards and the workers of Balakliia forestry finally put out the fire covering 349 hectares they are trying to extinguish the separate fire sites Russian attacks are harmful to Ukraine’s environment and cause fires all the time. During three years of full-scale war, Russia caused €80 billion of damages to Ukraine’s environment, said Svitlana Hrynchuk, the Minister of Environmental Protection and Natural Resources, during a joint meeting of the Ukrainian government and the European Commission. Subscribe to news from Kharkiv, UkraineMost important stories from the frontline region Google Facebook Or Register from Google Register from Facebook Or Website materials are permitted only with an active link to “GWARA MEDIA,” not lower than the third paragraph The use of digital platform content is allowed with textual attribution Content for documentary films and integrated products is permitted The site was modernized with the support of the European Endowment for Democracy in 2023 ' + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.webview_notification_text + ' " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_title + " " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_text + " the Ukrainian Armed Forces launched a full-scale counter-offensive on all fronts in Ukraine: from Kherson in the south to Kharkiv in the northeast and "Bayraktar" UAVs delivered a massive attack on Russian positions and Ukrainian forces began to advance rapidly on the Kharkiv front in the area of the city of Balakliya there was a cascading collapse of Russian defenses when occupying troops retreated and abandoned both their first and second lines of defense Ukrainian Armed Forces command expertly used tactical surprise in their rapid skillfully exploiting Russia's redeployment of the bulk of its forces to the South to defend against Ukraine's loudly-touted offensive there "We have not lost anything and will not lose anything," Vladimir Putin said at the economic forum in Vladivostok on September 7 he would announce a partial military mobilization in Russia his troops continue to retreat in the East as they are pressed by Ukrainian troops which has recently gained much notoriety as one of the first significant objectives taken in Ukraine's Kharkiv Region counteroffensive the most stunning and successful counter-offensive since World War II You may wonder what "Russian peace" has brought with it it has brought nothing new — torture chambers We saw firsthand the consequences of what went on in the town during the Russian occupation Will you eat?" — a grandmother in a colorful headscarf asks soldiers at a checkpoint near the entrance to Balakliya There are two baskets with eggs hanging on her bicycle handlebar and behind there is a big plastic bag with apples inside The grandmother takes her load off the handlebar and puts it on the ground "Who do you think the old woman was all these for We have been waiting for you for so long!" they were quite surprised about what was going on The woman immediately started a conversation with me they had come here not long ago to take back the rest of their belongings since they left Balakliya and escaped to Kyiv Region a few days after the Russians seized their town Her husband Volodymyr told me that one of the main reasons they left was that it was impossible to live in Balakliya: since the very beginning of the occupation these deprivations were not the worst part The Russians started chasing and capturing people right on the streets Different rumors were flying around the town So Volodymyr and Svitlana decided to leave the city and go to their relatives before something happened to them They said that  their friends who remained in Balakliya visibly aged Volodymyr says that he barely recognized his old friend they asked me to blur their faces from my pictures I walked several hundred meters along Balakliya's central street She was carrying a package of food in her hands She immediately recognized me as a journalist because she didn't know my face from among everyone she knew in the city When I asked how she lived during the Russian occupation Everything that could be taken was taken away by the Russian military in their own cars Russians were primarily interested in alcohol and food They were always hungry." "And then," she said with irritation - "they also took note of household appliances Especially when they found out that there was nobody living in an apartment they immediately took everything out of there." She went on with sadness in her eyes: "Looting was just the half of it The woman took a deep breath and said: "Every day they were torturing someone in the local police department The poor people screamed so loudly that residents living nearby heard these terrible sounds of shouting and crying they were punishing not only men but women too there could be 8 or 9 of them kept at a time we managed to see the Russians' improvised torture chamber which they had set up in the police department It is hard to express in words what we saw and felt and there was a musty smell of something that had been rotting for a long time the detainees were trying to keep a calendar I don't want to talk about the toilets in the cells and the smell which came from them I can't imagine how people here survived in the summer heat I heard a loud shout on the street: "Carry the water carefully This young mother was telling her 12-year-old son not to spill the water he was carrying in buckets on the sidewalk People gathered near a truck  with a cistern Each of them in turn was placing their tubs under a powerful stream of water there was panic that there would not be enough water for everyone "Water is now more expensive than gold in Balakliya!"  said a woman near the water truck The driver of the water truck began to reassure people saying that there would be enough water for everyone and everyone tried to push their tub under the stream It was at the only store in the city where you could buy bread and some household cleaning supplies with Ukrainian money I was kindly greeted by the store employees said that now she hopes to restore her business because she had practically no work during the occupation She also lamented how the Russians who looted She was especially angry about the Buryats who sincerely did not understand why the residents of Balakliya did not meet them with bread and salt and refused to feed them units consisting of ethnic Russians came to Balakliya They were also disappointed that the local residents did not want to cooperate with them and not one who I interviewed spoke positively about the Russians Everyone cursed them and wanted them to experience the same fate as the people of Balakliya did under occupation but still with the hope that the city would recover from the Russian occupation and that normal life would resume here All the locals with whom I managed to talk were afraid of the Russians returning This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page Balakliia and Izium are considered key targets for the enemy because of their strategic location Russia could attempt flanking maneuvers to advance on the Donetsk region head of the Council of Reservists of the Ground Forces in a commentary to the RBC-Ukraine YouTube channel they open the way to Kramatorsk and Sloviansk," Tymochko explained He noted that these cities hold significant strategic importance for the further advance of Russian forces Tymochko emphasized that controlling these territories would enable the enemy to launch offensives from two directions simultaneously Russian forces had planned their campaign in the Kharkiv region with the goal of regaining lost positions was to bypass defense positions and renew the advance on the Donetsk region He highlighted that the Russian army realized it could not capture Chasiv Yar through a frontal assault and might resort to flanking maneuvers They saw they couldn't take Chasiv Yar through a frontal assault as it lies on the route towards Kramatorsk and Sloviansk He also stressed that current discussions about such enemy actions indicate that this scenario is once again being considered Earlier today, the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, Oleh Syniehubov, said that the cities of Izium and Balakliia in the Kharkiv region were being prepared for an all-around defense. the construction of fortifications continues and these are planned activities Moreover, yesterday, Andrii Rubtsov, the communications officer of the 116th separate mechanized brigade, said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces recorded attempts by Russians to cross the Oskil River in the Kharkiv region on inflatable boats The roots of Russia's invasion of Ukraine go back decades and run deep The current conflict is more than one country fighting to take over another; it is — in the words of one U.S official — a shift in "the world order."Here are some helpful stories to make sense of it all Local residents gather on Tuesday to receive humanitarian aid in Balakliia a town recently liberated by the Ukrainian military as part of its counteroffensive in the Kharkiv region Ukraine — Lyudmyla Vorona says her hometown of Balakliia was not prepared when the Russians took control in early March "We didn't have extra food and toiletries," the 60-year-old Vorona says "And the children were scared from all the shelling when Ukrainian troops took back Balakliia late last week — the first of a string of towns they swiftly liberated as part of their recently launched counteroffensive in the east — residents were thrilled Retaking the area happened surprisingly fast; so quickly that Russian forces retreated in such a hurry they left behind a lot of military equipment and vehicles, and didn't release people they had detained — and reportedly tortured — in the Balakliia jail Drone footage shows destroyed buildings and damaged vehicles in Balakliia in this screengrab obtained from a social media video released Sept 8 They spoke to NPR on Tuesday while standing in line for humanitarian aid in Balakliia's heavily damaged town center They're two of many of the residents who NPR spoke with while on the first press tour of the newly liberated area Many still seemed genuinely shocked that their town had been liberated "The only thing we are afraid of now is that Russians could come back It's really hard to believe that this is for good," Dacenko says A number of buildings were damaged or destroyed in Balakliia which came under Russian occupation early in the full-scale invasion While the physical damage to Balakliia and surrounding areas isn't nearly as bad as the destruction left behind in the Kyiv suburbs of Bucha and Irpin Russian soldiers stole food from people's houses cleared store shelves and killed off farm animals homes repaired and abandoned and bombed-out vehicles removed A destroyed Russian military vehicle by the side of the road in Balakliia on Tuesday There's also the task of assessing the extent of the death toll during the area's six months of occupation Officials say they've found the bodies of five Ukrainian civilians in Balakliia At least two of those are of men who are thought to have been shot by Russian soldiers while driving through a checkpoint Their bodies were buried in makeshift graves near the center of town and have now been exhumed for further investigation "We'll try to do whatever is possible to register all of the war crimes committed by Russian forces," Oleg Synegubov head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stands with soldiers after attending a national flag-raising ceremony in Izium Zelenskyy thanked soldiers for their efforts in retaking the area as the Ukrainian flag was raised in front of the burned-out city hall building President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that Ukraine has recaptured over 1,500 square miles of territory so far this month. Zelenskyy paid a visit to the region Wednesday The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank in Washington, D.C., says Ukraine has retaken more territory in its latest counteroffensive in less than a week than Russia has managed to capture in all of its operations since April The Kremlin has acknowledged it had to withdraw its troops in the Kharkiv region, and several members of the Russian State Duma have expressed concern about the situation on the front line, according to the institute officials in some Russian-controlled areas in eastern Ukraine have urged residents to evacuate the senior vice president and director of the International Security Program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies says Ukraine's recent success has been a culmination of things — including getting the Russians to move many of their troops to the south A destroyed car in Balakliia seen on Tuesday "The Ukrainian forces had essentially feinted that the priority was going to be in the south "The Russians moved some military forces from the north and the east down to the south and it provided an opportunity for [Ukrainians to] push into areas of the north and the east." Analysts say the counteroffensive has damaged Russian troops administratively and that morale is low Russia would have to move more of its troops around to take back territory it's lost — something it really can't afford to do right now because it would leave them vulnerable on other fronts Officials say some 15% of the Kharkiv region is still Russian-occupied which means the fighting may not be totally over for places like Balakliia "I think it is likely to be a turning point Polina Lytvynova contributed to this report Become an NPR sponsor Although an unexpected turn of events for the majority of observers the offensive was not a miracle but rather a simultaneous demonstration of Russian forces’ growing degradation and Ukrainian formations’ improved professionality and exceptional staff work as successful counteroffensives are some of the most challenging maneuvers Ukraine created a preponderance of forces at sectors of prospective front-line penetration Third, Ukrainian forces during the exploitation phase emphasized swiftness of movement along major roads to quickly reach Kupyansk, rather than liberate settlements along the way; as such, Balakliya was fully secured by September 8 (Ukrinform Ukrainian units managed to isolate the zone of operation and sever major ground lines of communication (GLOCs) for orderly withdrawal creating panic among Russia’s rear forces and causing them to flee without heavy weaponry and ammunition the direction of Ukraine’s major flanking strike was chosen quite wisely Through the strike to the north-northeast of Balakliya toward Kupyansk Ukraine threatened the Izium salient to the southeast of Balakliya and unhinged the entire Russian front line in Kharkiv region owing to the fact that the Oskil Reservoir limited Ukrainian advances and protected offensive forces from hypothetical Russian countermeasures as well as limited options for Russian units’ organized withdrawal from Izium Ukrainian military command managed to exploit geography features and front-line configurations to its advantage Ukrainian forces demonstrated the advantages of maneuver warfare (bewegungskrieg) Swiftness of action along major lines of communications—Ukrainian forces covered 75 km toward Kupyansk in three days—led to the complete collapse of the Russian front line and unorganized withdrawal of units The offensive’s accomplishments are especially impressive in light of the fact that Ukrainian forces are still grappling with a deficit of critical artillery and armor and lack air superiority which is considered an essential requirement for any successful offensive operation the Balakliya-Kupyansk offensive stands in stark contrast to Russian attempts to advance in Donbas since April 2022 Despite a preponderance of firepower and numerical advantage in armor Russian units failed to quickly penetrate Ukraine’s tactical defense in depth in numerous places and the exploitation echelon was unable to encircle and destroy major Ukrainian groupings or cause them to flee all Russian forces managed to do is slowly push Ukrainian forces from Popasna Kyiv is quickly demonstrating that it is increasingly possible for Ukrainian forces to recover all the briefly occupied territories and win this war According to the investigation, a military man known in the Russian army as “Granit” was the commandant of the occupied Balakliya. Prosecutor’s Office said he ordered the detention of local veterans of Russian-Ukrainian war (serving before 2022), had relatives in the military, expressed pro-Ukrainian views, etc. Prosecutors said “Granit”’s subordinates reported every fact of detention to him, and he repeatedly personally interrogated civilians, using, among other things, psychological pressure. In April 2022, on the order of the accused, Russians abducted and beat a man for his pro-Ukrainian position and then brought him up for interrogation, where the so-called commandant threatened him with weapons. The man was held in a torture chamber for 21 days without sufficient food, water, fresh air, a bed, or basic sanitary conditions. The investigation said that they threatened another man with imprisonment and threatened to take his relatives to the Russian Federation. Both detainees were later released. “Granit” is charged for the cruel treatment of civilians committed by a group of people by prior conspiracy. He faces imprisonment for a term of 8 to 12 years if found guilty by the court. UPD from Jan 17, 2025, 7:21 p.m.: Mistake in the title fixed. According to Ukrinform, this was reported on Facebook by the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration “At 23:57 in Balakliia, there was one hit by a Shahed UAV on the roof of a two-story lyceum building, a fire broke out. The second UAV hit another part of the lyceum and the ceiling between the roof and the third floor of the lyceum,” wrote Syniehubov the shelling also damaged the glazing of windows in six apartment buildings the Balakliia District Primary Health Care Center Izium and Kharkiv districts over the past day Residential buildings and cars were damaged there As reported by Ukrinform, in the Zolochiv community in Kharkiv region, Russians hit a civilian car with a drone the chief engineer profited from the Russian occupation to become self-proclaimed manager during occupation of Balakliya The defence says was only taking care of his team and protecting economic property The District Court of Kharkiv has been assigned to Derevyanko's case since May 2023 At the end of January and start of February The media's attention to such a seemingly minor case surprises both the prosecutor and the defence lawyer But neither they nor the accused have any objection to the presence of a journalist although he says he is not in the best shape for a photo "There was normal work to preserve the material integrity of the company and provide the staff with humanitarian aid and salaries,” Derevyanko told the court “But it was all within the framework of Ukrainian legislation as I understand it There was no cooperation with the Russian Federation Derevyanko's colleagues are now called as witnesses in the case They were questioned in the Kharkiv court at the prosecution’s request was the first to answer the prosecutor's questions She says she did not leave Balakliya because of her elderly parents did you continue to work at the Balakliya GSC during the occupation?" asks the prosecutor “There were only a few guys who stayed there on their own initiative close the gates and preserve the grain,” replied Nazarenko “We had a new bucket elevator nearby were protecting the property during this entire period the occupiers planned to resume the elevator’s functioning on their own terms Nazarenko heard rumours about the possible reopening of the company She thought it was a chance to provide for her family "The money I still had in my bank account was blocked,” Nazarenko continues She recalls her first arrival at the grain company I would pick cherries and sell them in jars to buy some things to make soup or borscht I did not believe that the war was coming and I did not store supplies And then word-of-mouth got to us that it was possible they would reopen "I went to the elevator to earn as much as a jar of pâté,” says Nazarenko the Russian Federation came with certain assistants He told us something about the elevator to reopen someday They didn't really understand what to do with it Nazarenko mentioned another motive for coming to the elevator The Internet was functioning in one of the buildings and her son needed to apply to the university remotely using a simplified procedure for applicants from the occupied territories without completing the external independent evaluation  "There was a question of where to get the Internet for this purpose And this coincided with the time of university admissions," she recalls We did not have any responsibilities per se We would weld shut the storages to prevent them from being looted And he [Derevyanko] was like the head of our gang," Nazarenko says These were exactly the words the prosecutor was waiting for in a manner similar to what you have just told the court that Anatoliy Ivanovych Derevyanko took power into his own hands we somehow mutually realized that he was in charge Derevyanko's defence lawyer is interested in whether the Balakliya GSC worked with Russian entrepreneurs or the military not once have I seen Anatoly Ivanovych with the Russian military He works only for the benefit of our company Never in my life will I believe that he is a collaborator," Nazarenko says Anatoliy Derevyanko smiles behind the glass wall Witness Oleksandr Globa waves at the screen from the Balakliya district court This is his way of greeting the participants of the trial at the beginning of the interrogation But the independent entrepreneur from Balakliya is not very forthcoming The prosecutor has to pull answers out of this witness Globa sent his harvest to the elevator of the Balakliya Grain Storage Company for storage I needed to rent it somewhere for two months," he explains The prosecutor refers to a document indicating that the entrepreneur concluded a contract with the GSC on August 3 The prosecutor is interested in the details of the contract: who signed the contract and under what circumstances The office girls gave me the contract."  Globa says that he did not see who signed the contract on behalf of Balakliya GSC "The investigator asked you during the pre-trial investigation where and who was present when you signed this contract It is written that you went to Derevyanko's office and he personally signed the contract with you And now you are literally changing your testimony," says the prosecutor "I'm telling you that the girls gave it to me Globa also failed to recall what language the contract was written in "You didn't collaborate with the occupation authorities were there any military personnel on the premises?" Defence lawyer Serhiy Chub says none of the prosecution witnesses interrogated so far has confirmed Derevyanko's collaboration with the occupation authorities "They all confirm that employees who came to the elevator came with the sole purpose of preserving the property didn't organize some kind of activity of the company Those entrepreneurs did not bring their grain there to give it to the Russians or for any commercial activity They brought it because there were no other places to store it in," the defence lawyer says "The grain was received from Ukrainian farmers And as for what was left from previous harvests it was all preserved as well," the accused told MediaPort "We signed contracts with farmers whose grain we took for storage No contracts were signed with the Russian side because it was better for the farmers in order to transport their grain," says Derevyanko When asked how he feels about the charges in general Derevyanko answers: "I think the court will sort it out The court of Kharkiv continues to hear witnesses in this case This report is part of our coverage of war crimes justice produced in partnership with Ukrainian journalists. A first version of this article was published on the "Mediaport" website Natalia Shapoval stayed six months in Balakliya under Russian occupation After the city was invaded in the spring of 2022 the Russians established checkpoints and enforced their own order So did Natalia’s 28-year-old son Andrii who fell ill just before the full-scale invasion and worked remotely from home Andrii graduated from Kharkiv Automobile and Highway University he was helping her grandmother during the occupation he went home at 12:30 and told her: ‘Today is my birthday I’m going to spend time with my parents.’ And he never came back,” Natalia says.  The parents went to the district police office where the occupiers were stationed. “We went there two days in a row They searched the house,” Natalia says And they said they would return them if they didn’t find anything compromising “That old lady also went to the local commandant The commandant came out and said: ‘If I see you here again you will end up where he is.’ And that was it I don’t know if they were hunting [the men] He would only go out to walk the dog around the house and then return home  “He was always at home at 1:30 pm And that was it – he never came back,” Natalia continues On April 15, three days after his disappearance, a video message from Andrii was posted on his personal Instagram page in which he allegedly pleaded ‘guilty’ to assisting the Ukrainian Armed Forces Andrii’s family does not believe that this video was recorded voluntarily Natalia replies that he is a true Ukrainian open and sincere in his attitude towards people He never thought about the fact that people are different and can say one thing and plan evil things behind someone’s back,” she says the family reported their son’s abduction to the Ukrainian police and appealed to the International Committee of the Red Cross they have received no information about his whereabouts or his well-being She says she did not reach out to other Balakliya residents who are also searching for their missing loved ones Each time it is very difficult to talk about it They are people too,” Natalia says and wipes her tears The vast majority of those released as part of prisoner exchanges are military personnel “There are no mechanisms for exchanging civilians and they shouldn’t exist in the civilised world,” says Serhii Chebyshev head of the Eastern Regional Centre for the Treatment of Prisoners of War Ukraine was able to return civilians during the full-scale war 3210 [Ukrainian] persons have been exchanged The Russian occupiers simply capture civilians they cannot be exchanged - such a procedure is simply not stipulated But we managed to do it,” Chebyshev said The Centre does not disclose how the negotiations between Ukraine and the aggressor are conducted It is known that Ukraine has no other choice but to hand over Russian servicemen in exchange for civilians according to the head of the Eastern Regional Centre The Kharkiv Human Rights Group (KHRG) provides free legal and psychological assistance to relatives of missing civilians Its representatives travel to communities with monitoring visits to talk to people who have survived the occupation they receive information by phone and online and meet the families in their office in Kharkiv “We cannot guarantee that we will be able to establish the whereabouts of your loved one the specialists of the KHRG managed to find more than 30% of the people who were reported to us,” the organisation states According to the statistics provided to MediaPort by Tamila Bespala a lawyer of the Kharkiv Human Rights Group 978 of which concern prisoners of war and 188 civilians “We have a broad approach to the search for civilian prisoners which includes work at both national and international levels We prepare requests not only within Ukraine but also to as many authorities in the temporarily occupied territory as possible it is about 30 requests and applications per search We have to exhaust all possible and impossible means,” Bespala comments “When state authorities cannot communicate with Russia or the occupied territories for example: ‘We don’t have this person.’ And then this person is exchanged There have been cases where relatives have more or less ‘legally buried’ a person and then we receive a reply: ‘We have him.’ We always tell relatives: until there is a death certificate you need to keep looking,” the lawyer continues “When you are searching and really want to find someone it makes sense to write to the devil himself,” she adds In addition, the KHRG writes to international institutions, namely the UN agencies. “First of all, we refer to the Working Group on Enforced or Involuntary Disappearances A request to this group usually contains three questions: where exactly is the person the person’s health condition and the third - the status [on which grounds he or she is detained],” Bespala explains communication begins: “So the UN has considered our request they send a letter to the relevant authority representing Russia.” “When we receive an inquiry from relatives But I want to say that now the Working Group’s office is overloaded they can’t keep up because the number of [requests] is so high It’s a very bureaucratic system,” the lawyer explains The KHRG lawyers also appeal to the UN Human Rights Committee Especially in cases of torture: “It is not only requests and correspondence or some kind of influence on the Russian authorities in such a request we also seek financial compensation.” According to Bespala within the practical experience of the KHRG about whom the human rights activists had been actively communicating “There have also been cases when we have received a response from Russia that the person was there We pass it on to the official authorities of Ukraine: ‘We have this answer.’ Then they confirm it in their own way,” the lawyer says “People often say: ‘I called the Red Cross.’ That’s great but you can’t exactly put it on record anywhere That’s why we prepare everything,” she adds She points out the versatility of the contacts with Russia-controlled structures “There were cases when we had to react immediately when we knew that a person had been wounded in the ‘LNR’ area [Luhansk People’s Republic] We contacted the hospitals and the authorities there straight away There were cases when that person was returned to our territory There are situations when you write a request and get a response: ‘We don’t have him.’ You write a new request three months later: ‘We have him.’ You no longer need to write to some of the previous authorities new ones have appeared,” the lawyer explains The approach of international institutions has also changed Whereas previously human rights defenders could receive “a few miserable sentences” in response now we are talking about “legal correspondence” with the UN agencies As of today, the Ukrainian Unified Register of Missing Persons under Special Circumstances contains information on about 38,000 Ukrainians Balakliya resident Natalia Shapoval says she has been waiting two years for at least some news from her son Andrii She hopes that the International Committee of the Red Cross will strengthen its work and that Andrii will be found “I heard that some people are found and there are visits to see the conditions of their detention It was even said that they could receive pastries I think he is strong and will wait until his release,” Natalia says This was reported in Telegram by the State Emergency Service in Kharkiv region while driving on a dirt road on the edge of the forest the driver of an IVECO DAILY truck hit an unknown explosive object,” the report says the incident occurred on the outskirts of Balakliia the car was damaged and the 39-year-old driver was seriously injured As reported, on March 22, a police car exploded on an anti-personnel mine in Beryslav, Kherson region. a fire truck exploded after hitting an explosive device; two rescue workers were injured The accident occurred this afternoon while extinguishing a forest fire in a liberated area in the surrounding of Balakliya town It is noted that the injured were rushed to a hospital Ukrinform reported that three people had sustained explosive injuries in an incident that occurred in the village of Starytsya in the vicinity of Vovchansk town When Russian troops fled the Ukrainian town of Balakliia last month they left behind thousands of documents that detail the inner workings of the Russian war machine they left behind thousands of documents that detail the inner workings of the Russian war machine Ukraine – The Russian soldiers had fled weeks before Concrete steps led into the basement of their hastily abandoned headquarters in this small riverside town in eastern Ukraine A bunker smelling of damp lay behind a steel door marked “Command Group.” Papers an unnamed staff officer left a sketch of a cartoon soldier and mused about going home The book’s 91 handwritten pages contained other information too: coordinates of Russian intelligence units And accounts of a breakdown in morale and discipline the bunker yielded thousands of pages of documents Reuters reviewed more than a thousand of them They detail the inner workings of the Russian military and shed new light on events leading up to one of President Vladimir Putin's most stinging battlefield defeats: Russia’s chaotic retreat from Ukraine’s northeast in September Russian forces were struggling with surveillance and electronic warfare They were using off-the-shelf drones flown by barely trained soldiers Their equipment for jamming Ukrainian communications was often out of action Two units – accounting for about a sixth of the total force – were operating at 20% of their full strength The documents also reveal the increasing effectiveness of Ukraine’s forces and offer clues to how the eight-month-old war might unfold with Russia now under intense pressure on the southern front around the Black Sea coast came under heavy bombardment from HIMARS rocket launchers The precision missiles repeatedly hit command posts A Russian officer who served in the Balakliia force for three months described to Reuters a sense of menace hanging over the occupiers One of his friends bled to death in early September after a Ukrainian strike on a command post in a nearby village “It’s a game of roulette,” said the officer who asked to be identified by his military call sign Plakat Junior 888 The Kremlin press service referred questions for this article to the Defence Ministry Russia has said previously its military has everything it needs to fight the war The documents in the bunker name Colonel Ivan Popov as the commander of the Russian military force operating from Balakliia Popov and many of his senior officers belong to the 11th Army Corps the official newspaper of Russia’s armed forces published a profile of Popov It said he served in Russia’s war against separatists in Chechnya and the 2008 invasion of ex-Soviet Georgia He jogged with his men and remembered his officers’ birthdays adding that Popov “is motivated to achieve success.” Popov did not respond to a message seeking comment His wife told Reuters he commanded a force in east Ukraine The Balakliia force included a commandant responsible for keeping the local civilian population in check He is identified in the papers by an apparent pseudonym He oversaw at least one interrogation centre where civilians were beaten and questioned using electric shocks according to six former detainees and Ukrainian officials Extract from a status report to the base commander a quiet town of squat apartment buildings surrounded by bucolic villages To the south was the Russian controlled Donbas region; to the north the city of Kharkiv The soldiers occupied a rundown vehicle repair complex on the outskirts of town It became the command centre for Balakliia and dozens of surrounding villages and farms Russian helicopters and drones constantly circled over the base a local man who managed the premises before the Russians arrived Dozens of GRAD rocket launchers and other military vehicles were parked in the grounds a Reuters reporter saw desks arranged in a rectangle Each bore a red nameplate of a military section: combat coordination including the commandant responsible for the civilian population according to rosters that were left amongst the papers Reuters has identified at least 11 officers who attended these meetings Lists of personnel showed that conscripts from the Russian-controlled Ukrainian region of Luhansk fought alongside men from Russia’s 11th Army Corps The soldiers scribbled on the walls of the base and put up fliers warning of Ukraine’s descent into Nazi rule if they withdrew The invaders had brought with them old Soviet maps of Ukraine A poster admonished the soldiers: Do not smoke contained coordinates for Russian military intelligence and other units scattered around the area One unit had taken over a Balakliia kindergarten said Ukrainian investigators had visited the base repeatedly since the Russians retreated De-miners were still removing the ordnance The base also served as a detention centre for captured Ukrainian veterans One military veteran told Reuters he was hooded where he was held for six days with several others Others were detained in Balakliia’s police station the other an inspector in the emergency services - said their jailers beat them with wooden batons and administered electric shocks Russian soldiers questioned the inspector repeatedly about his calls with his supervisor in Kharkiv They accused him of compiling a list of Ukrainians who had collaborated with the Russians The firefighter said he was accused of hiding weapons and organising a local partisan group a 33-year-old logistics coordinator for the emergency services recounted that she and other women were held simply for being “pro-Ukrainian.” “I heard men being beaten so badly that at one point I heard a Russian soldier say “Another time I heard a woman being raped upstairs and crying for hours.” Strilets said she broke the cell’s toilet so “it sounded like a waterfall” and would block out the woman’s screaming The Kremlin and Russia’s Defence Ministry didn’t respond to questions about events in Balakliia Russia has said previously its forces do not target civilians Kharkiv regional police said Ukrainian investigators had discovered 22 torture chambers across newly liberated towns and villages in the region  “We cannot count the number of people who were detained But every crime has a name and we will surely find those responsible,” regional police chief General Volodymyr Tymoshko said relatives of prisoners sometimes petitioned the Russian known as Commandant V said her husband was turned away when he sought information about her detention None of the detainees and families interviewed by Reuters had any success in swaying “Granit.” A spreadsheet at the Balakliia bunker showed a typical Russian sergeant was paid 202,084 roubles ($3,200) a month in salary plus bonuses while a sergeant in the separatist force received just 91,200 roubles ($1,400) The head of a Luhansk flame-thrower company recorded in one document that eight of his subordinates had previous convictions - including one man for rape and sexual assault Locals sell vegetables in front of a damaged market in the Ukrainian town of Balakliia was the scene of heavy fighting between Russian and Ukrainian forces A burned out car in Balakliia which for six months was under Russian occupation Ukrainian Presidential Press Service/Handout via REUTERS The commander of the ZVO (Western Military District) ordered that Hrakove is not to be surrendered.” Extract from notebook of the anonymous staff officer the Russian occupiers encountered their first serious challenge from Ukraine’s armed forces At the regular morning meeting in the bunker were normal: The previous night had been relatively quiet and enemy positions were unchanged On the agenda for the day: some scheduled artillery fire on Ukrainian positions supported by tanks and under cover of an artillery barrage attacked the Russian front line at Hrakove – a village on the north-western edge of the territory held by the Balakliia force Troops belonging to Russia’s 9th motorised rifle regiment were holed up in a concrete grain elevator in Hrakove They’d positioned guns along the top of the structure A Reuters reporter who visited the facility in October saw signs the men slept on the grain conveyor belts an unnamed Russian on the front line at Hrakove radioed his commanders in Balakliia: His position was being overrun He requested artillery strikes to destroy the post he was abandoning the anonymous staff officer wrote in his notebook: “The munitions are running out.” The commander of the Western Military District demanded a briefing on the situation and “ordered that Hrakove must not be surrendered,” further notebook entries said the commander at the time was Colonel-General Alexander Zhuravlyov Independent Russian military analysts CIT have said that Zhuravlyov was replaced by July by Lieutenant-General Andrei Sychevoi Sychevoi didn’t respond to a request for comment Russian commanders sent in reinforcements and mobilised attack helicopters the Ukrainians were retreating and Russian forces were retaking lost ground two armoured personnel carriers and other equipment according to a report that was presented to Popov on July 21 Among the Russian dead was Corporal Aleksandr Yevsevleev A list of casualties inside the command bunker said his abdomen had been torn open and he had shrapnel injuries to his right upper thigh said their son was fatally wounded when his position came under fire near Hrakove from a Ukrainian helicopter five soldiers needed treatment for “acute reaction to  stress.” Next to each of their names in the medical record was written: “Does not require evacuation.” A soldier in his twenties was listed as having suffered blast injuries only that “the fighting was fierce.” He spoke on the condition of anonymity Colonel Popov applied to his superiors for 34 of his subordinates to be given medals for their bravery The documents did not detail how his superiors responded Two of the soldiers told Reuters they have yet to receive their awards a 25-year-old commander of a reconnaissance platoon Kalinin is from Crimea and briefly served as a cadet in Ukraine’s armed forces before Russia annexed the peninsula in 2014 A photograph shows him in a Ukrainian uniform Kalinin didn’t respond to messages from Reuters seeking comment Handwritten note on a July 19 briefing document Documents in the bunker show that Russian commanders understood the shortcomings of their force On July 19, hours before the battle of Hrakove, an unnamed officer scribbled on the daily briefing note a plea for drones to track the enemy:  “Quadcopters!!! Urgent!” Quadcopter drones are generally not military grade and can be bought in store and on the internet. As Reuters reported in June Russian troops have relied on crowdfunding to buy drones The Balakliia force finally took receipt of three off-the-shelf Mavic-3 quadcopter drones on July 20 because their software wasn’t yet installed The same daily report stated 15 soldiers were being trained how to operate them were busy flying drones over Russian positions their task made all the easier because two of the Russian force’s three jamming devices were out of action in need of repair according to a note on a report by the electronic warfare unit The daily report on July 21 contained even more alarming news for Colonel Popov the commander of the Balakliia force: Russian intelligence agency the FSB had learned that Ukrainian forces were bringing to the area three highly accurate HIMARS missile launchers And Ukraine had pinpointed the locations of one Russian command post and four warehouses that were being used by the Balakliia force Ukraine’s Defence Ministry and military did not respond to questions about weaponry and tactics the author of the handwritten notebook recorded that a HIMARS strike had killed 12 Russian soldiers belonging to the 336th marines brigade of the Baltic Fleet The fight further eroded morale and discipline among the soldiers Artyom Shtanko commanded a platoon that was in the thick of the Hrakove battle and suffered losses according to his father Alexei and Plakat Junior 888 the officer who served in the Balakliia force Alexei said Shtanko refused an order from his company commander to “send his men into artillery fire.” Plakat Junior 888 identified the commander as Viktor Alyokhin who was operating from a command post near Hrakove Alyokhin confirmed he was in charge of a company during the battle but declined to comment further the notebook’s anonymous author wrote on July 24 – five days after the Hrakove battle – that Shtanko was a “bastard” facing disciplinary action because he “pulled back his platoon and took it into the rear.” Shtanko’s commanders moved him to a different unit He said Shtanko is still fighting in Ukraine The notebook also recorded the desertion of Roman Elistratov a corporal in the 9th motorised rifle regiment which felt the full force of the Ukrainian onslaught Elistratov didn’t respond to messages from Reuters the author wrote of a soldier who deliberately shot himself in the hand to avoid further action Command should be notified of the incident None of these details made it into the official reports seen by Reuters the machine gun still won’t work if it has no bullets inside.” Russian officers were convinced Ukrainian forces were preparing a counter-offensive to “take control of Balakliia,” the documents in the bunker show Intercepted communications indicated an attack was imminent  Some of the communications were from cell phones registered to countries including Estonia Russian officers in the command bunker concluded the phones were in the possession of mercenaries or foreign instructors helping the Ukrainian military Estonia said its defence forces were not operating inside Ukraine the United States and the Netherlands didn’t respond Russian military-electronics experts arrived in Balakliia They wanted to see if Russia’s “Pole-21” system for jamming satellite navigation systems could be adapted to counter HIMARS missiles and local residents indicate that at least three Russian command posts in northeast Ukraine were hit by HIMARS missiles in the weeks that followed the Balakliia command set about drafting in more troops according to daily reports and records in the staff officer’s handwritten notebook 30 showed that the force was at only 71% of full strength The 2nd assault battalion had 49 personnel This furnace in the Balakliia command bunker contained partially burned documents shows Nazi soldiers and is overlaid with the words: “If we leave Belarus and Ukraine are scribbled on a wall inside the Balakliia base Graffiti on a door inside the Balakliia base The letter “Z” has become a symbol of Russia’s war Above it someone has written “Death to Muscovites.” REUTERS/Zohra Bensemra Where there had been five drones on July 25 Eight armoured personnel carriers were reduced to three The force had four “Fagot” anti-tank weapons systems left The one “Zoopark” system they had for suppressing enemy electronics systems was gone by the end of August the Russian officer interviewed by Reuters described trying to fight off successive Ukrainian attacks during August without adequate supplies The small calendar he kept in the trenches during his three months rotation paints a dire picture Days were marked with scribbled notes saying “Attack” and “Escaped from encirclement” or bearing the names of comrades killed in action 27 was marked simply as “the worst day.” That was when their position came under heavy artillery attack “There were no supplies of munitions or drones,” he said of the situation in late August but “our artillery was not working in response.” I’m already home with my family…I’m having a nice time in Khabarovsk with my family Ukraine’s counter-offensive began in earnest on Sept 6 A Russian soldier who was  in Hrakove that day told Reuters that Ukraine first attacked Russian positions with artillery By the evening Ukrainian forces had outflanked them the order was given to retreat from the village precision strikes hit the command centre in Balakliia said the entire facility erupted in flames Dozens of bodies of Russian soldiers were pulled from the rubble A video posted on social media on Sept 10 showed Ukrainian soldiers viewing the destroyed hangar where Russian forces had kept their vehicles “This is what the result of HIMARS’ work looks like,” said a voice in Ukrainian in the video an elderly couple who live less than 300 metres from the bunker said they heard constant Ukrainian strikes in the final days of the occupation Two other residents said they saw Russian soldiers throw away their guns and abandon their vehicles as they ran away ID card point to Russian units that terrorised Bucha How Russia spread a secret web of agents across Ukraine Russian army base sees scramble for war supplies “It was just chaos,” said one of the two locals who lived across the street from the command headquarters “There was a traffic jam” of fleeing Russians Other Ukrainians described how fighters from Luhansk fled often trailing behind the retreating Russian military all that remained of the headquarters was a crater and a pile of documents A plume of smoke rose from a heap of burnt out Russian equipment was injured at some point and spent a month in hospital She said he has since been promoted to the rank of general and is about to head off on a new assignment undated notebook entries by the anonymous staff officer are reflective “If you sit and look at the river for long enough you will eventually see your enemies floating by,” he wrote he appears to be imagining his life in the future in a city on the Russian border with China I’m already home with my family,” he wrote “I’m having a nice time in Khabarovsk with my family More Reuters investigations and long-form narratives Reuters Investigates offers several ways to securely contact our reporters Maria Tsvetkova in New York and Anton Zverev in Tbilisi Edited by Christian Lowe and Janet McBride Isabel van Brugen is a Newsweek Reporter based in Kuala Lumpur Her focus is reporting on the Russia-Ukraine war Isabel joined Newsweek in 2021 and had previously worked with news outlets including the Daily Express You can get in touch with Isabel by emailing i.vanbrugen@newsweek.com or by following her on X @isabelvanbrugen either observed and verified firsthand by the reporter or reported and verified from knowledgeable sources Translations may contain inaccuracies—please refer to the original content Russian troops may be encircled in Balakliya, an occupied town near Kharkiv, a former Russian military leader has said, amid reports of a Ukrainian counteroffensive in the region Igor Girkin, who prefers to go by Igor Strelkov, published his assessment of the situation on his Telegram channel as reports emerged that Ukraine's armed forces had launched an unexpected offensive on the Kharkiv front on Wednesday "The enemy yesterday launched an offensive that they had been preparing for a long time (judging by the transfer of reserves) inflicting the main blow in the area of the city of Balakliya," wrote Girkin said Russia's troops failed to contain Ukraine's soldiers the enemy managed to take the garrison of Balakliya into an operational recruitment capturing the settlements of Volokhov War and Verbovka," he wrote Girkin also said new Russian recruits didn't know how to use heavy weaponry in Balakliya and suggested that there has been an "unfortunate lack of training." "Russian aviation...preferred to fire at the enemy from the maximum possible distances which significantly affected the effectiveness of strikes," he wrote Girkin also cited his sources as saying Ukraine is delivering attacks with "outstanding audacity" and "on armor and wheels...seizing positions." He acknowledged reports that two units of the Russian SOBR (Special Response Unit) are reportedly surrounded in the area Pro-Russian Telegram channels have also reported the loss of their positions and the successes of the Ukrainian army in the region saying that fighters with the special purpose police units from the Samara region and Bashkortostan were surrounded by Ukrainian troops A pro-Kremlin Telegram channel run by blogger Volodymyr Romanov reported that a Russian unit was surrounded near Balakliya The Rosich Telegram channel also wrote that the fighters of the SOBR were surrounded Newsweek has been unable to independently verify the claims and has reached out to Russia's foreign ministry for comment Ukraine's defense ministry has yet to comment on the reports of a Ukrainian offensive on Balakliya said: "They are promising good news from the Kharkiv direction Residents of Balakliya have been urged by the local city council to observe informational silence about the movement of the Ukrainian army in the Kharkiv region "There is information about the liberation of some settlements of the Balaklia community but we are trying to maintain informational silence," it said in a statement The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said in an assessment on Wednesday that Ukrainian forces conducted a counterattack in Kharkiv Oblast near Balakliya that likely drove Russian forces back to the left bank of the Severskyi Donets and Serednya Balakliika rivers located less than 2 miles northwest of Balakliya Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground Newsletters in your inbox See all Local people paint picture of young Russian occupiers without conviction to the Kremlin’s cause The roads leading to Balakliia, a former frontline town in Kharkiv province recently recaptured by Ukraine, were littered with the detritus of war; carcasses of Russian tanks, crates of abandoned ammunition and destroyed vehicles were scattered along the sides. Three of the bridges into the town had been blown up. One had been replaced with a pontoon bridge, but that too was out of action after a truck turned on its side while crossing. Several houses on the outskirts were destroyed, as well as factories and farms Russian and Ukrainian forceshad used as bases. Locals said they heard explosions every day from late February onwards and spent most of the last seven months at home and in their basements. Around the beginning of last week, they said, they heard an increase in shelling and shortly after, the Russian forces just fled, some even on foot. Read moreThose on Balakliia’s streets on Tuesday, just a small part of the 6,000 square km Volodomyr Zelenskiy says Ukraine has recaptured during its counteroffensive, were mostly older middle-aged or elderly, wheeling bicycles. They said younger people who had children had mainly left for Europe What the people of Balakliia experienced appears to have differed to the residents of towns in Kyiv region and other northern parts of Ukraine that came under Russian occupation at the beginning of the invasion suffering well-documented atrocities in commuter towns such as Bucha Luba had two pieces of shrapnel still stuck in her ankle and lower back – the result of two shells landing while she was in her garden Residents told the Guardian that they had little interaction with the Russian forces who mostlybased themselves on edges of the town getting by without basic utilities and looting by Russian forces – but not scenes of torture and execution Almost no one appeared to have heard about the atrocities committed by Russian forces against civilians in other regions where at least 20,000 people are estimated to have died amid a near information vacuum – with patchy phone signal no mobile internet or wifi and TV for most of the period Some said they had heard second-hand stories that the Russian-occupying authorities had detained volunteers delivering food or police officers – or anyone they perceived as a political or military threat said his friend’s father hid in his house for the duration of the occupation Balakliia sits at the western edge of the recaptured territory and is around 30 kilometres from the new frontlines But it is clear Russia’s plans have been scuppered for now Free daily newsletterOur morning email breaks down the key stories of the day telling you what’s happening and why it matters A bridge into the town was blown up by the Russians before their defeat in Balakliia Photograph: Alessio Mamo/The GuardianOne resident said the Russians had told her she would need to soon re-register her property and would be given a Russian passport “They said the Kharkiv People’s Republic is going to be here,” she added When asked how people felt about the occupying authorities and Ukrainian forces recapture of the town no one at this point is going to tell you want they think … but I think everyone is glad that there’s no more shelling.” said that there were many collaborators in the town “Some remain but the majority have left and went to Russia,” said Smak Many who remained in the town had supported the occupation Oleksandr Richardovych a local doctor who was injured on September 8 when two shells landed either side of him Photograph: Alessio Mamo/The Guardian“I’m a Ukrainian I’m a patriot but I can’t say the same for everyone,” she said “I would say the majority wanted this to happen.” "Balakliya is Ukraine!... Boys and girls of the Armed Forces, today you make a new history of free Ukraine, we are proud of you," Oleh Synehubov, Head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, posted on Facebook. He noted that the Ukrainian flag was raised in Balakliya together with the military, led by Commander of the Ground Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Oleksandr Syrskyi. As reported, the Armed Forces of Ukraine have already liberated more than 30 localities in Kharkiv region: measures to check and secure the territory are ongoing in some of the villages of the region, the army is gradually taking control of new localities. Online media entity; Media identifier - R40-01421. © 2015-2025 Ukrinform. All rights reserved. Reuters identified the commandant who had been in charge of policing the civilian population during Russia's six-month occupation of Balakliia who went by the call sign of "Granit," is Valery Buslov a Russian military policeman with the Baltic Fleet.Following Reuters' report the SBU announced this month that Buslov had been notified of suspicion that he had violated the laws and customs of war The agency said Buslov organised the "illegal detention of local residents" in Balakliia.It said investigators found evidence he personally interrogated detainees and used "psychological and physical violence" against them including threatening them with murder and the forced deportation of their relatives to Russia.When Reuters reached Buslov by phone inside Russia last month by phone he denied that he had been in Balakliia.Reporting by Polina Nikolskaya Christian Lowe and Maria Tsvetkova; editing by Mark Heinrich Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab , opens new tab Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. , opens new tabScreen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. © 2025 Reuters. All rights reserved four locals said.One of the two female residents who said Buslov looked the same as the military commandant was an 82-year-old pensioner called Liudmyla was detained in Balakliia last April and that she repeatedly appealed to “Granit” and his assistant for his release They said they would try to find him but never did who still doesn’t know his whereabouts.Oleksandr said his brother was detained the same month and remains missing officials at the Russian-installed administration told him the commandant’s office decided all questions to do with the military Oleksandr said on repeated visits he sought information from a balaclava-clad man who identified himself as “Granit,” but never got a clear answer about his brother’s whereabouts.Editing by Cassell Bryan-Low Maria Tsvetkova is an investigative journalist originally from Moscow who focuses on Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as part of an international team of reporters. She has reported from the conflict zones in Ukraine and Nagorno-Karabakh, as well as doing reporting stints in Armenia, Turkey and Iraq. Home Internships & JobsTake ActionDonateMore SearchRussian Soldiers Used a Police Station as a 'Torture Camp'Business InsiderSep 15, 20222 min readSophia Ankel Humanitarian aid is distributed to citizens after the Ukrainian army recaptured the town of Balakliya Metin Aktas/Anadolu Agency via Getty Images A regional official said the town's police station was used as a "torture camp" by Russians Troops would keep locals captive for weeks and torture them with electricity A Ukrainian official said Tuesday that Russian soldiers used a police station in a recently recaptured town as a "torture camp" where they tormented people with electric shocks Balakliya, a town in the eastern Kharkiv region with a population of around 25,000 people, had been occupied by Russian forces for more than six months, the Associated Press reported. It was recaptured by Ukraine on September 8 as part of a lightning counteroffensive that prompted Russian troops to flee as fast as they could. In a Facebook post on Tuesday, Serhii Bolvinov the deputy police chief of the Kharkiv region said that the town's police headquarters were used as "torture camps" by occupying Russian soldiers for months the racists always held at least 40 people captive feeding them twice a day with porridge without anything," Bolvinov said in the post they were tortured in different ways," Bolvinov added "I will not describe all the tortures I will only say that the 'easiest' was when they received electric shocks." Insider was unable to independently verify his claim But a Balakliya local, identified only as Artem, told the BBC that he was among the residents who were held in the police station He said he was detained after the Russians found a picture of his brother He told the BBC that he was kept at the station for more than 40 days and was tortured with electricity you are finished,'" Artem told the BBC and they started spinning it even more and the voltage increased," he added a school principal who was also held at the police station for three days told the BBC that she regularly heard screams from other cells Officials told the BBC that locals were scared to even pass the station in case they were grabbed by Russian soldiers Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his nightly address on Tuesday that Ukraine had retaken around 4,000 square kilometers of territory in the region He also called on officials to restore normalcy in these areas adding: "Remnants of occupiers and sabotage groups are being detected collaborators are being detained and full security is being restored." Zelenskiy reports ‘good news’ from northern front as Donetsk People’s Republic says Balakliia ‘encircled’ Ukraine has launched a surprise counterattack in the north-east Kharkiv region stretching Russian forces who are also facing Ukrainian attacks in the south An official representing the Russian-controlled Donetsk People’s Republic said on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces “encircled” Balakliia an eastern town of 27,000 people situated between Kharkiv and Russian-occupied Izium after prolonged artillery preparation … began an attack on Balakliia,” Daniil Bezsonov said on Telegram Balakliia is in operative encirclement and within the firing range of Ukrainian artillery All approaches are cut off by fire,” he said adding that a successful Ukrainian offensive would threaten Russian forces in Izium a strategically important town that Russia has been using for its own offensive in eastern Ukraine Unverified footage circulating on social media on Wednesday showed what looked like a Ukrainian soldier posing in front of an entrance sign for Balakliia Analysts have said that the initial target of the offensive could be the city of Kupyansk a key road hub for Russian supplies heading south from the border into eastern Ukraine has remained guarded about the military counter-offensive in the east while Ukraine’s army has yet to comment on the alleged new battle plan Zelenskiy reported “good news” from the Kharkiv region east of Kyiv implying some settlements had been recaptured from Russian forces but adding that “now is not the right time to name those settlements where the Ukrainian flag has returned” In a Wednesday evening address Zelenskiy cited “the extremely successful hits in areas where the occupiers are concentrated” and thanked Ukrainian artillery troops for what he said were successful strikes against Moscow’s forces in the south One of Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s advisers said on Tuesday night that “lightning-fast changes are taking place” in the Kharkiv region in parallel to the southern offensive in the Kherson region announced by Ukraine’s military last week a senior Pentagon official said that Ukrainian forces are making “slow but meaningful progress” on the battlefield “We’ll see how things pan out,” said under secretary of defense for policy Colin Kahl “But I certainly think things are going better on the Ukrainian side right now in the south than is true on the Russian side.” Ukraine’s military did give some confirmation of the alleged offensive on Wednesday claiming Ukraine’s army shot down a Russian military Sukhoi Su-25 aircraft near Volokhiv Yar Ukraine for a long time spoke openly of its intent to launch a large-scale southern offensive in the Kherson region forcing Russia to transfer some of its most elite units from the east to Kherson this has opened up opportunities for Ukraine to launch attacks near Kharkiv “Russia’s deployment of forces from Kharkiv and eastern Ukraine to Ukraine’s south is likely enabling Ukrainian counterattacks of opportunity,” the thinktank wrote late on Tuesday a military analyst at the Foreign Policy Research Institute said the Ukrainian attack indicated that Russian forces near Kharkiv were stretched “Russia doesn’t have strong reserves in this area that could be sent quickly to plug gaps and reinforce key towns Ukraine may have a numerical and armour superiority here.” The Russian government and its defence ministry have not commented on Ukraine’s alleged offensives Speaking at an economic forum in the far-eastern Russian city of Vladivostok on Wednesday, the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, said Russia had not lost anything as a result of its military campaign in Ukraine A number of prominent pro-Kremlin bloggers volleyed criticism at the Russian authorities after Ukraine’s latest offensive Igor Girkin, a Russian ultra-nationalist and former military leader for the Russian-backed republics in eastern Ukraine said the outskirts of Balakliia were defended by poorly equipped mobilised forces from the Donbas region who “didn’t know how to use available heavy weapons” He added that Ukraine also took control of the settlement of Volokhiv Yar overnight on Wednesday denounced the Russian authorities for hiding “bad news” “We need to start doing something about the system where our leadership doesn’t like to talk about bad news and their subordinates don’t want to upset their bosses,” he said Ukraine’s offensive in Kharkiv came as Andrei Turchak proposed to hold referendums on joining Russia in occupied territories on 4 November when Russia celebrates its National Unity day “It would be right and symbolic to hold referendums on this very day,” Turchak wrote on his Telegram channel the most concrete sign yet that Russia is planning to go ahead with annexing Ukrainian territories Also on Wednesday, a new report by the London-based Centre for Information Resilience’s Eyes on Russia said it was highly likely that Russian forces shelled the Russian-occupied Enerhodar the satellite town of the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker Destroyed armored vehicles litter the road in Balakliya Ukraine – Ukrainian forces have broken through Russia's front lines in the east retaking strategic towns and territory in a surprise counteroffensive that began just days ago Ukrainian officials claim to have recaptured some 270 square miles and the key towns of Izium Balakliya and Kupiansk — all of which have been controlled by Russian forces for months confirmed in a Telegram post that the armed forces of Ukraine are in the city but said it's too early to say the city has been liberated In his nightly address Friday Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy claimed that more than 30 settlements in the Kharkiv region had been "liberated" so far While Russia's Ministry of Defense and the Kremlin have not officially acknowledged the counteroffensive Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov confirmed that Moscow's forces withdrew from the city of Izium — a key regional transportation and supply hub for the Russian military in Ukraine's east to liberate Donbas it was decided to regroup the Russian troops in the area of Balakliya and Izium to scale up efforts in Donetsk direction," Konashenkov said in a video even as Russian state media reporters on the ground insisted the move was taken to avoid a rout by Ukrainian forces Videos posted to social media showed long lines of cars piled up at the Russian border after occupying authorities called for a civilian evacuation A recent analysis by the Institute for the Study of War said that successes in the Kharkiv counteroffensive "are creating fissures within the Russian information space" and "eroding confidence" in Russian command NPR Moscow Correspondent Charles Maynes contributed to this report.  The Russian military captured the city on March 4, 2022. At the same time, the mayor of Balakliya betrayed Ukraine and sided with the occupiers, and then fled to the Russian Federation with his family. Balakliia is a town of Izium district with a pre-war population of 26 000 people. From here there was a road in the direction of an important logistics center of the occupiers – Kupyansk. During the retreat, Russian troops abandoned their positions and fled deep into the temporarily occupied territories or even into the territory of the Russian Federation. The occupiers left not only heavy equipment but also vehicles, shells, and high-tech weapons. Instead, the Russian army fled the region, taking the loot. The process of recovery is already underway in the de-occupied territories, in particular, pensions are being paid there. Ukrposhta delivers the first payment of pensions to residents of the de-occupied territories in the near future. 70 tons of humanitarian goods have already been sent to Balakliya. Mobile branches of postal company Nova Poshta have started working in the city and Kyivstar mobile network has been launched. The Ukrainian law enforcement system is also starting to resume its work in the liberated territories, but access is still limited for security reasons. Gwara Media visited Balakliia and showed the life of the de-occupied city. the Ukrainian military has liberated a number of settlements in the Kharkiv region communications demining and repair are underway and law enforcement officers are finding torture chambers and mass burials Zaborona journalist Ganna Sokolova visited Balakliya and Izyum spoke with the victims of Russian executioners about the occupation and electrocution and attended the exhumation of killed civilians and soldiers The material contains photos of dead bodies that may shock “That’s my home,” says the woman “It’s mine,” the woman says firmly the mother of local judge Volodymyr Strygunenko who was persecuted by the Russian military while trying to persuade him to cooperate The judge wrote these announcements himself so that the occupiers understand,” explains Volodymyr Strygunenko catches up with us at the entrance to the basement “It’s a gift from the prosecutors,” laughs the judge it’s about them,” Kateryna quips or I would be a cripple,” Volodymyr sighs That’s why we stayed alive,” Strygunenko shrugs “She can use this water for the toilet,” Kateryna comments with understanding “More than ten torture chambers have already been found in the liberated areas of Kharkiv region in various cities and villages. As the occupiers fled, they also dropped torture devices [torture instruments]. Even at the regular Kozachai Lopan railway station, they found a room for torture,” said President Volodymyr Zelensky “Torture was a widespread practice in the occupied territory.” the Chernyaki spouses and Nadiya stayed at home They ate their supplies and cooked on a campfire The sounds of gunshots could be heard from the forest from time to time or they were just playing,” Nadiya shrugs As the French publishing house Le monde learned the burial was handled by an employee of the local ritual service named Vitaly He collected the bodies of civilians killed during the shelling around the city Under the first number lie those who died on March 3 under number 445 — those who died on September 15 Sometimes several people are buried under the same number another body with traces of torture was found here — a man with his hands tied and his scrotum cut off They remove mutilated bodies from shallow graves and pack them in plastic bags A tear glistens on the nose of one of the diggers “I am asking you very much to facilitate the return of my dad home for a decent burial I am very proud of him!” the son of the deceased will appeal to the Ministry of Defense the bodies of 320 civilians and 18 military personnel were exhumed “Political ones are in the basement Criminals are on the first floor,” he explains the man saw several hundred passports of local residents scattered around the room Maksym came to the district office to see the torture room He found all the tools there – handcuffs sticks and a telephone device that produced electricity Maxim remains in Izyum and plans to write a book about the experience of life in the occupation As early as September 16, President Volodymyr Zelenskyi announced that almost all of the Kharkiv region was de-occupied the Russians occupied 32% of the territory of the Kharkiv region said the head of the Kharkiv regional administration The Russian army retreated and began to strike at critical infrastructure Kharkiv and part of the region were left without electricity and mobile communications and medicine daily to the liberated towns and villages The Russians are shelling the de-occupied territories, particularly the Kupyan district in the region’s east. On September 20, two people died there, and nine others were injured. So the volunteers are evacuating the local population. “They threw it away,” says Lyudmila. “And where are his children when there’s a war?” During the occupation, Lyudmila lost 12 kilograms of weight. “I opened the door, and they asked: “Is your name Sasha?” They pulled me into the entrance, and the three started beating me. I ask: “For what?” They: “You told someone that you are not afraid of us,” says the man. He heard how the prisoners kept in the cell sang the Russian national anthem every night. Even now, the man is barely holding back tears. “Sorry, I’m exhausted,” he says, returning to his bags. The material was created within the framework of the “Life of War” project with the support of the Laboratory of Public Interest Journalism and the Institute for Human Science, Vienna. Support Zaborona on Patreon so we can produce even more interesting stories We produce high-quality, unbiased journalism on socially important topics and aim to deliver reliable and transparent information to our readers. Subscribe to Zaborona to get access to high-quality and vivid stories, investigations, explainers, and opinions. You can support us on a monthly basis, as an annual subscription, or as a one-time donation. Choose how you prefer to support Zaborona so the editorial team can continue to produce content for you. Research Fellow in Land Warfare at the Royal United Services Institute (RUSI) a UK-based defence think tank."With the Russian state clearly mobilizing for a longer conflict a system such as BARS does provide an additional avenue from which to mobilize parts of the population get them trained and provide additional mass," said Reynolds who reviewed the bodycam footage.He said the group shown in the video appeared "not particularly professional or well trained.""WE'D BEEN FORGOTTEN"On Sept the core of the Russian force in Balakliia was withdrawing in the face of a major Ukrainian counter-offensive Ukrainian forces have already taken the nearby settlements of Verbivka and Lagery But the BARS fighters stayed behind.Kuznetsov was one of the squad leaders of a BARS 9 platoon the video showed.The commander of the BARS platoon inside Balakliia ordered Kuznetsov's squad to head to the crossroads and repel Ukrainian forces the video showed.They knew they would be outgunned by the Ukrainians The heaviest weapons Kuznetsov's squad had at its disposal were machine guns and mortars.Two members of the BARS force were sent to find a spot with radio signal to contact a nearby artillery unit to get support according to one of the four fighters who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.After around 24 hours but they were already pulling back towards Russia the person said."My first impression was that we'd been forgotten," he said "It hit me very hard psychologically."TOY SOLDIERSOn Sept 7 Kuznetsov's squad were keeping watch from an apartment building overlooking the crossroads as radio traffic reported Ukrainian forces approaching.While they waited Kuznetsov and two of his men played with a toy plane and toy tank pantomiming a soldier requesting air support.Soon after a radio report came in saying five Ukrainian Humvees were spotted nearby let's get into the mood for a battle." The video footage ends as Kuznetsov heads downstairs into the street.Two of the fighters told Reuters they did engage the Ukrainian forces but the Russians were outnumbered.After the retreat though they said it has since been re-started.Additional reporting by Kateryna Malofieieva Christian Lowe and Mari Saito; Editing by Daniel Flynn Zoe Strozewski is a Newsweek reporter based in New Jersey. Her focus is reporting on U.S. and global politics. Zoe joined Newsweek in 2021. She is a graduate of Kean University. You can get in touch with Zoe by emailing z.strozewski@newsweek.com A special Ukrainian unit has released a video showing how a key city was recaptured in the eastern Kharkiv region, where a counteroffensive has recently dealt Russian President Vladimir Putin's army several blows The nearly 10-minute video provides what might be the closest look yet into how Ukrainian troops advanced on and ultimately freed the city of Balakliya from Russian control this month Some of the footage shows what appears to be Russian-controlled facilities and vehicles targeted from afar with large blasts When the Ukrainian troops eventually reach a more central part of Balakliya civilians are seen cheering their arrival on the side of the road and waving a Ukrainian flag The Ukrainian troops surveyed the area with their weapons at the ready Ukrainian soldiers are seen taking down Russian flags and other reminders of the occupation posted around the city and then raising their own flag on top of a building in a symbol of victory Taking control of Balakliya was strategically important for Ukraine in its eastern counteroffensive because it allowed soldiers to use it as a base to push even further into the region "The operation that started the counteroffensive of the Ukrainian army," the Kraken unit captioned the video on YouTube "The operation that broke the front of the occupiers in the Kharkiv region." After Ukraine freed Balakliya, it continued toward the cities of Izium and Kupiansk Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a September 15 address that almost the entire Kharkiv region had been deoccupied "It was an unprecedented movement of our warriors—Ukrainians once again managed to do what many considered impossible," he said Newsweek reached out to Russia's Defense Ministry for comment Click here to see ISW’s interactive map of the Russian invasion of Ukraine This map is updated daily alongside the static maps present in this report A Reuters investigation of a document trove found in an abandoned Russian command post in Balakliya supports ISW’s longstanding assessments about the poor condition of Russian forces ISW has long assessed that the conventional Russian military in Ukraine is severely degraded and has largely lost offensive capabilities since the summer of 2022 that Russian strategic commanders have been micromanaging operational commanders' decisions on tactical matters Reuters’ investigation found that Russian units near Balakliya were severely understrength with a combat battalion at 19.6-percent strength and a reserve unit at 23-percent strength.[1] The investigation found that poor morale and overbearing commanders contributed to Russian forces’ poor performance.[2] The report found that the Russian Western Military District explicitly forbade a subordinate from withdrawing from an untenable position in the small village of Hrakove (which has an area of less than three square kilometers).[3] Ukrainian forces defeated Russian forces in Balakiya and routed Russian forces in eastern Kharkiv Oblast around September 8-10.[4] Russian President Vladimir Putin’s rhetoric indicates that he is not interested in negotiating seriously with Ukraine and retains maximalist objectives for the war Putin stated that Ukraine has “lost sovereignty” in a meeting with Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) security officials on October 26.[5] Putin stated that the United States is using Ukraine as a “battering ram” against Russia the Collective Security Treaty Organization Russian State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin amplified this narrative stating that “Ukraine has lost the ability to exist as a state,” “Ukraine is occupied by NATO,” and “[Ukraine] has become a colony of the US” on October 26.[6] This language is incompatible with negotiations on an equal basis for a ceasefire let alone a resolution to the conflict that Russia began It instead strongly suggests that the Kremlin still seeks a military victory in Ukraine and regime change in Kyiv that would affect the permanent reorientation of Ukraine away from the West and into Russia’s control It also indicates that Putin’s aims transcend the territory he has claimed to have annexed let alone the areas his forces actually control Russian occupation officials in Kherson Oblast are attempting to mitigate the informational consequences of the chaos of the initial Russian withdrawals from the west bank of the Dnipro River Saldo also issued assurances about the provision of basic utilities and financial services that he claimed will continue even as evacuations to the east bank are ongoing.[9] Saldo’s statements indicate that his administration is attempting to mitigate panic in the information space likely in order to maintain control of the population of Kherson Oblast against the backdrop of ongoing evacuations Russian forces conducted an assault on Ternova likely to fix Ukrainian forces there and prevent them from reinforcing Ukrainian counteroffensive operations elsewhere The Ukrainian General Staff reported on October 26 that Ukrainian forces repelled an attack on Ternova (40km northeast of Kharkiv city) which is well removed from areas encompassed by the eastern Ukrainian counteroffensive.[10] Russian forces likely do not intend to regain limited territory in border areas of Kharkiv Oblast but instead likely hope to keep Ukrainian forces in the area that otherwise could join counteroffensive operations Russian forces are likely hoping for a similar outcome in northwestern Ukraine with their deployment of forces to the joint grouping of forces in Belarus and the messaging around it Russian officials continued to admit that Russia is deporting children to Russia under the guise of adoption and vacation schemes Russian media reported on October 26 that the Russian Commissioner for Children’s Rights adopted a Ukrainian child who was deported from Mariupol to Russia.[11] Lvova-Belova claimed that Russian officials have brought 31 children from Mariupol to Russia and that her office is working to “rehabilitate” Ukrainian children from active combat zones the forced adoption of Ukrainian children into Russian families may constitute a violation of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.[12] Russia is also continuing to use the excuse of recreational trips to deport Ukrainian children to Russia and Russian-occupied territory Member of the Zaporizhia occupation administration Vladimir Rogov reported on October 26 that over 500 children from Enerhodar went on “vacation” in Yevpatoria Wagner Group financier Yevgeniy Prigozhin denied ISW’s report that Prigozhin confronted Putin and other siloviki factions in the Kremlin regarding the progress of the Russian war in Ukraine.[17] Prigozhin explicitly denied ISW’s October 25 assessment and falsely insinuated that ISW receives classified intelligence ISW does not receive any classified material from any source and Western reporting and social media as well as commercially available satellite imagery and other geospatial data as the basis for these reports ISW specifically does not receive information from Prigozhin’s deceased mother-in-law We do not report in detail on Russian war crimes because those activities are well-covered in Western media and do not directly affect the military operations we are assessing and forecasting We will continue to evaluate and report on the effects of these criminal activities on the Ukrainian military and population and specifically on combat in Ukrainian urban areas We utterly condemn these Russian violations of the laws of armed conflict and humanity even though we do not describe them in these reports Ukrainian Counteroffensives (Ukrainian efforts to liberate Russian-occupied territories) Eastern Ukraine: (Oskil River-Kreminna Line) Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian troops conducted counteroffensive operations west of Svatove on October 26 The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD) claimed that Ukrainian forces launched five consecutive and unsuccessful attacks toward Kuzemivka (13km northwest of Svatove) from Pishchane (23km northwest of Svatove).[18] Several milbloggers claimed that Russian forces repelled multiple attempted Ukrainian attacks toward Svatove.[19] Another prominent milblogger posted a map that indicates that Ukrainian forces have advanced up to Dzherelne Russian sources claimed that Russian troops regained lost positions west of the Svatove-Kreminna line on October 26 footage posted to social media on October 26 shows a Ukrainian soldier raising a flag in Nevske indicating that Ukrainian troops likely have taken control of the settlement and Russian sources are trying to obfuscate the gain.[23] Russian sources also claimed that Russian troops repelled attempted Ukrainian attacks towards Bilohorivka Russian forces continued to prepare for the defensive on both the west and east banks of the Dnipro River on October 26 The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Russian forces are continuing to prepare defensive positions on the east bank of the Dnipro River.[25] The Ukrainian Resistance Center reported that Russian forces in Nova Kakhovka are preparing defenses in the city for street fighting.[26]  Russian sources reported that Russian forces are building fortifications in Kherson City and creating strongholds in case of future Ukrainian breakthroughs with one source calling the fortifications the “Surovikin Line.”[27] Nova Kakhovka notably lies on the east bank of the Dnipro River making Russian preparations for fighting in the city contrast with Russian claims that Russian forces intend to hold Kherson City and the west bank of the Dnipro This may also indicate that Russian forces anticipate battles to take place on the east bank of the Dnipro River in Russian-occupied territory deeper in Kherson Oblast  Geolocated footage from October 26 shows a resident complaining about Russian forces withdrawing to the east bank of the Koshevaya River (5km southwest of Kherson City).[28]  These continued reports of Russian withdrawals from the area suggest that the Russian military does not expect to hold Kherson City even if it intends to fight for it Russian sources claimed that Ukrainian forces continued to conduct counteroffensive operations in northwestern Kherson Oblast on October 26 Russian sources claimed that units of the Russian Airborne Forces (VDV) and the 42nd Motorized Rifle Division of the 58th Combined Arms Army repelled a Ukrainian assault toward Ischenka in the vicinity of Davydiv Brid.[29] The Russian MoD claimed that Russian forces also repelled Ukrainian assaults north of the Beryslav-Nova Kakhovka area near Bruskynske (39km northwest of Beryslav) and Koshara (32km north of Beryslav) in northwestern Kherson Oblast.[30] Elements of the Russian 11th Guards Air Assault Brigade are reportedly operating in northeastern Kherson Oblast Ukrainian military officials largely maintained operation silence regarding Ukrainian ground maneuvers in Kherson Oblast on October 26 Ukraine’s Southern Operational command noted that Ukrainian troops repelled a Russian attempt to break through Ukrainian lines in an unspecified direction on October 25.[32] Ukrainian military sources also reiterated that Ukrainian troops are continuing their interdiction campaign to target Russian concentration areas in Kherson Oblast Ukraine’s Southern Operational Command reported that Ukrainian forces conducted more than 150 fire missions in the Southern Bug direction on October 26 but did not specify any Russian targets that were struck.[33] Russian Subordinate Main Effort—Donetsk Oblast (Russian objective: Capture the entirety of Donetsk Oblast the claimed territory of Russia’s proxies in Donbas) Russian forces continued ground attacks in Donetsk Oblast on October 26 The Ukrainian General Staff reported that Ukrainian troops repelled Russian attacks on Bakhmut itself northeast of Bakhmut around Bakhmutske (10km northeast of Bakhmut) and Soledar (12km northeast of Bakhmut) and south of Bakhmut around Ivanhrad (4km south of Bakhmut) Supporting Effort—Southern Axis (Russian objective: Maintain frontline positions and secure rear areas against Ukrainian strikes) Russian forces continued to conduct routine air and in Dnipropetrovsk and Mykolaiv oblasts on October 26.[39] Ukrainian sources reported that Russian forces struck Dnipro and Nikopol in Dnipropetrovsk Oblast and Bereznehuvate in Mykolaiv Oblast.[40] Dnipropetrovsk Oblast head Valentyn Reznichenko reported that Ukrainian air defenses shot down a Shahed-136 drone over Nikopol on October 26.[41] A Russian milbogger posted an image of Russian Main Intelligence Directorate (GRU) Spetsnaz supposedly operating in Zaporizhia Oblast on October 26.[42] Mobilization and Force Generation Efforts (Russian objective: Expand combat power without conducting general mobilization) The Russian military is reportedly trying to leverage foreigners to support its war in Ukraine Foreign Policy reported on October 25 that Russian actors—reportedly of Russia’s Wagner Group—are contacting members of the US-trained Afghan National Army Commando Corps to recruit them to join a Russian “foreign legion” to fight in Ukraine.[43] Foreign Policy reported that many of these well-trained former soldiers have been in hiding since the Taliban took control of Afghanistan in 2021 and are without stable jobs or personal security which means that up to 10,000 of these commandos may be vulnerable to Russian offers The Ukrainian Resistance Center reported that Belarusian military commissariats in Gomel Oblast mobilized Belarusian drivers and mechanics to repair Russian military equipment in Belarus.[44] The Kremlin likely seeks to augment its war effort with foreign elements as Russian combat forces continue to face acute personnel shortages Local Russian military commissariats continue to contradict Russian regional governors Military Commissar of Crimea Yevgeny Kutuzov promised that Crimea would complete its partial mobilization by November 1 in time for the start of the fall conscription cycle as ISW previously forecasted.[45] Russian occupation Governor of Crimea Sergey Aksenov stated that mobilization activities in Crimea ended on September 25.[46] Fissures between regional Russian officials the Russian Ministry of Defense and military commissariats and the Russian civilian population from which mobilized forces are drawn will likely intensify in the coming months.[47] Russian sources are complaining that the Russian Ministry of Defense is not maintaining contact with Russian forces and prisoners of war (POWs) in Ukraine Russian journalist Anastasia Kashevarova wrote a public complaint on October 26 that an entire Russian company of mobilized men of the 55th Motorized Rifle Brigade operating near Svatove are without command.[48] Thirteen Russian mobilized men in a platoon of the 15th Motorized Rifle Regiment of the 2nd Guards Taman Motorized Rifle Division filmed a video in which they stated they hid in an empty house near Svatove after their unit’s defeat The men report they had no connection with their company commander or the rest of command.[49] A Russian milblogger complained that Russian officials are abandoning Russian POWs in Ukraine and implored Russian authorities to do something to help Russian POWs.[50]   The United Kingdom Ministry of Defense (UKMOD) seemingly attributed an October 24 attack targeting a Russian rail line in Bryansk Oblast to a Russian anti-war group.[51] Unknown actors destroyed a segment of rail in Novozybykovo about 15 km from the Russian-Belarusian border with an explosive device on October 24.[52] The UKMOD reported that a Russian anti-war group called “Stop the Wagons” claimed responsibility for the attack and did not provide any further comment.[53] Belarusian opposition elements reportedly have conducted sabotage against Belarusian railways since February.[54] Russian military mobilization may be promoting similar actions from disaffected Russians Activity in Russian-occupied Areas (Russian objective: consolidate administrative control of occupied and annexed areas; forcibly integrate Ukrainian civilians into Russian sociocultural Russian and occupation administration officials in Kherson Oblast continued to relocate residents from the west bank of the Dnipro River to the east bank on October 26 Saldo may have released a figure that is reflective of the final number of residents that Russian and occupation officials intend to relocate from the west bank of the Dnipro River Russian and occupation officials will likely increase efforts to relocate residents from the west bank as the Ukrainian counteroffensive in Kherson Oblast progresses Note: ISW does not receive any classified material from any source References to all sources used are provided in the endnotes of each update [1] https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/ukraine-crisis-russia-base/ [2] https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/ukraine-crisis-russia-base/ [3] https://www.reuters.com/investigates/special-report/ukraine-crisis-russia-base/ [4] https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-september-10 [5] http://kremlin dot ru/events/president/news/69681 [8] https://understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-october-19 [9] https://t.me/SALDO_VGA/189; https://t.me/SALDO_VGA/190 [10] https://www.facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua/posts/pfbid02eWincDEZSLwT1n1hbPR7FshT9FXjShU1nA74wyAyXKmSn8oY1sysCJgrkPbF8ERBl [11] https://rg dot ru/2022/10/26/gde-ty-mama.html [12] https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-august-23 [16] https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-october-14; https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-august-23 [17] https://t.me/Prigozhin_hat/1882; https://understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-october-25 [18] https://t.me/mod_russia/21199; https://t.me/readovkanews/45360 [19] https://t.me/NeoficialniyBeZsonoV/19283; https://t.me/rusich_army/6004; https://t.me/milchronicles/1248; https://t.me/milchronicles/1248; https://t.me/readovkanews/45360 [22] https://t.me/vysokygovorit/9794; https://t.me/wargonzo/8904 [23] https://t.me/ukr_sof/333; https://censor(dot)net/ua/video_news/3376413/biyitsi_sso_vstanovyly_prapor_ukrayiny_v_nevskomu_luganskoyi_oblasti_video [25] https://www.facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua/posts/pfbid0w2pgrg4dJ9mVr5FmbURNrzyE3bKP5nAQv3e6wevtNZNnb4NtCAenLiGjVCzKYgUhl [26] https://sprotyv.mod.gov(dot)ua/2022/10/26/v-novij-kahovczi-rosiyany-zavaryuyut-kryshky-lyukiv-cherez-ostrah-ukrayinskyh-drg/?fbclid=IwAR0ljAXcs0E8B3YdTuejxvQgEeAQnhy-pfbeRFkagSLul0yjA1azveXQ280; [27] https://t.me/boris_rozhin/68428 ; https://t.me/kommunist/12229 [28] https://twitter.com/2iNtR0VeRt_Ed/status/1585271009686454272; https://twitter.com/neonhandrail/status/1585130686033588224?s=20&t=fqs1SqoFtbH1pl_OlQpY1A [29] https://t.me/Stremousov_Kirill/618 ; https://t.me/Stremousov_Kirill/625 ; https://t.me/wargonzo/8905 [32] https://www.facebook.com/okPivden/videos/812553639834205/?__tn__=%2CO [33] https://www.facebook.com/okPivden/videos/657823609193644/?__tn__=%2CO [34] https://www.facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua/posts/pfbid0w2pgrg4dJ9mVr5FmbURNrzyE3bKP5nAQv3e6wevtNZNnb4NtCAenLiGjVCzKYgUhl; https://www.facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua/posts/pfbid02eWincDEZSLwT1n1hbPR7FshT9FXjShU1nA74wyAyXKmSn8oY1sysCJgrkPbF8ERBl [35] https://t.me/wargonzo/8903 ; https://t.me/wargonzo/8898; https://t.me/wargonzo/8903 [36] https://www.facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua/posts/pfbid0w2pgrg4dJ9mVr5FmbURNrzyE3bKP5nAQv3e6wevtNZNnb4NtCAenLiGjVCzKYgUhl [37] https://t.me/rybar/40607; https://t.me/kommunist/12277 [38] https://www.facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua/posts/pfbid0w2pgrg4dJ9mVr5FmbURNrzyE3bKP5nAQv3e6wevtNZNnb4NtCAenLiGjVCzKYgUhl; https://www.facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua/posts/pfbid02eWincDEZSLwT1n1hbPR7FshT9FXjShU1nA74wyAyXKmSn8oY1sysCJgrkPbF8ERBl; https://t.me/rybar/40609; https://t.me/pavlokyrylenko_donoda/5373; https://t.me/nm_dnr/9290 [39] https://www.facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua/posts/pfbid02eWincDEZSLwT1n1hbPR7FshT9FXjShU1nA74wyAyXKmSn8oY1sysCJgrkPbF8ERBl   ; https://www.facebook.com/okPivden/videos/657823609193644/?__tn__=%2CO ; https://t.me/mykolaivskaODA/3170 ; https://t.me/zoda_gov_ua/14209 ;  https://t.me/dnipropetrovskaODA/2248 [40] https://www.facebook.com/GeneralStaff.ua/posts/pfbid02eWincDEZSLwT1n1hbPR7FshT9FXjShU1nA74wyAyXKmSn8oY1sysCJgrkPbF8ERBl ; https://t.me/mykolaivskaODA/3170 ; https://www.facebook.com/okPivden/videos/657823609193644/?__tn__=%2CO [43] https://foreignpolicy.com/2022/10/25/afghanistan-russia-ukraine-military-recruitment-putin-taliban/ [44] https://sprotyv.mod.gov ua/2022/10/26/v-bilorusi-mobilizuyut-vodiyiv-shho-mayut-obslugovuvaty-armiyu-rf/ [45] https://t.me/Crimeanwind/13455; https://crimea.ria dot ru/20221024/plan-po-chastichnoy-mobilizatsii-v-krymu-esche-ne-vypolnen-1125062179.html [46] https://rg dot ru/2022/09/25/reg-ufo/aksenov-chastichnaia-mobilizaciia-v-krymu-zavershitsia-v-eto-voskresene.html [47] https://www.understandingwar.org/backgrounder/russian-offensive-campaign-assessment-october-21 [49] https://zona.media/article/2022/10/25/anabasis ; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4wdTySfihqE  [50] https://t.me/notes_veterans/6243; https://t.me/notes_veterans/6241; https://t.me/notes_veterans/6240 [51] https://twitter.com/DefenceHQ/status/1585134337883869184/photo/1 [52] https://twitter.com/rybar_en/status/1584888146868961280; https://twitter.com/Internl_Leaks/status/1584705640249069570 [53] https://twitter.com/DefenceHQ/status/1585134337883869184/photo/1 [54] https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2022/04/23/ukraine-belarus-railway-saboteurs-russia/ Normalcy crept to the city of Balakliia after it was recaptured by Ukrainian forces A counter-offensive launched by the Ukrainian army against Russian forces in the Kharkiv region in the south continues The city of Balakliia is among over 30 settlements in the region The Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement on Saturday that they are retreating from Balakliia and Izium cities "to achieve the goals of the special operation." Footage recorded by Anadolu Agency team showed that access to the newly recaptured city is difficult as the roads leading to the city and the bridges in the city center have been destroyed The charred remains of some vehicles line the roads Ukrainian flags were hoisted on government buildings in the city Footage also revealed that some shops have reopened and children were playing in the playgrounds Residents are happy that they can spend the day without the sound of bombs or explosions 42-year-old Yulya Viktorovna said she went to the city center to take a photo with her daughter "We were very happy that (Ukrainian forces) rescued us We shed tears of joy when we watched the news These six months have been very difficult," she said Viktorovna went on to say that people cannot even imagine what they have been through in the city during the last six months under Russian control Brendan Cole is a Newsweek Senior News Reporter based in London He also covers other areas of geopolitics including China Brendan joined Newsweek in 2018 from the International Business Times and well as English You can get in touch with Brendan by emailing b.cole@newsweek.com or follow on him on his X account @brendanmarkcole A video of Ukrainian soldiers being tearfully greeted by residents in a town that Ukraine's army said it recaptured from Russian forces has gone viral Footage reportedly shot in the city of Balakliya, which is around 43 miles southeast of the eastern city of Kharkiv shows a group of women welcoming the soldiers The clip posted to Twitter by Ukrainian journalist Nataliya Gumenyuk shows the group emerging from a building to hug soldiers as they arrive "Ladies greet [Ukrainian] soldiers in liberated Balakliya after 6 months of Russian occupation...I can watch endlessly," Gumenyuk tweeted the video had been viewed more than 750,000 times "We have been praying for six months for you to come back to us Ladies greet 🇺🇦 soldiers in liberated Balakliya after 6 months of 🇷🇺 occupation. “Boys, we have some pancakes left, would you like?” “A bit later, please, better still hide, shelling is still possible”. I can watch endlessly pic.twitter.com/n6XVRI8YfX The women thank the men and say that there are children and grandchildren with them The women offer the soldiers pancakes but are warned that they had better continue to hide indoors because "shelling is still possible." A soldier says "we are here Another video shows two women hugging and taking photos with soldiers reportedly gathered in Balakliia's town square. "Bittersweet to watch the videos of residents' reactions to the Ukrainian soldiers liberating cities from Putin's fascist regime," tweeted Ukrainian racecar driver Igor Sushko. Bittersweet to watch the videos of residents' reactions to the Ukrainian soldiers liberating cities from Putin's fascist regime. This is #Balakliya near #Kharkiv. 😭 pic.twitter.com/sNYVFycBuT Ukraine had recaptured more than 1,000 square kilometers (390 square miles) of territory Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak tweeted that Ukraine's efforts showed that they were capable of "de-occupying its territories." heavy Russian shelling continues in Kharkiv where at least 10 people according to the city's mayor Igor Terekhov who warned on Telegram for residents to stay in shelters Russian officials have disputed Kyiv's claims of advances and its recapture of Balakliya Local Moscow-appointed official Vitaly Ganchev told Russian state TV that Russian forces had successfully fought them off Newsweek has reached out to the Russian defense ministry for comment Ukrainian forces are reportedly advancing on the city of Kupiansk, which U.S. think tank the Institute for the Study of War [ISW] said could be recaptured within 72 hours. Kyiv Independent reporter Illia Ponomarenko tweeted an image of soldiers holding a Ukrainian flag next to a road sign with the city's name in Russian “Kupyansk”Good lord, what’s going on. pic.twitter.com/t0mZbKml39 This city would be a key prize for Kyiv's forces because it is a logistical hub for Russian forces in the Kharkiv region victims reveal how they were beaten and made to dig own graves in Balakliia arrived in the Ukrainian city of Balakliia he promptly ordered his troops to set up checkpoints and convert the local police station into a detention camp until the city was liberated by Ukrainian armed forces were detained and subjected to degrading treatment The Guardian has spoken to some of the victims visited the cells where civilians were tortured and reviewed the investigation by Kharkiv prosecutors including a four-page document they obtained which had been signed by Buslov and his deputy ordering the illegal detention of civilians The investigation has led to the identification of dozens of Russian soldiers and two agents from Russia’s powerful FSB spy agency who are accused of war crimes and demonstrates how violence and torture were an integral part of the Russian campaign we seized dozens of files and weapons from the facility,” said Maksym Blokhin a war crimes military prosecutor in Kharkiv we have seen how the invaders inflicted unspeakable suffering on detainees I was trying to bring free milk to the people of Balakliia with my truck as many were suffering from hunger during the occupation,” said Kovryga Ivan Kovryga Photograph: Emre Çaylak/The GuardianKovryga was taken to the police station where the soldiers started beating him with blows to his face and ribs while he was sitting on a chair “They kept asking me to give them the positions of the Ukrainian troops and to confess that I had helped my country by providing them with information about the Russians,” Kovryga said “I tried to explain to them that I was no longer a policeman and that I had been working as a mechanic since 2017 But they didn’t believe me and continued to beat me.” Kovryga was locked in a basement with other detainees took him to the woods and gave him a shovel ‘now start digging your grave’,” Kovryga recounted “I begged them to let me speak with my mother and wife one last time Blokhin said of the Russian soldiers: “Terrorising people was their speciality One man told us how he was taken to a forest where the Russians showed him the bodies of two detainees executed Then they shot near his ear and finally beat him.” Kovryga was returned to the police station where the Russians started inflicting electric shocks on him using a machine connected to a military radio dating back to the second world war “I begged them to stop; I could feel that my body couldn’t take it any more,” he said “They then told me to confess in a video that I had given the wrong coordinates to the Ukrainians to hit the Russians and that the Ukrainians had instead killed families But they wanted to use me for their propaganda The names of the Ukrainian prisoners and the number of days they were held were written on the wall of the police station during the Russian occupation Photograph: Emre Çaylak/The GuardianAfter 10 days of violence and torture is one of about 30 women who were detained in the Balaklia police station She knew the Russians would arrest her sooner or later a commander in the Ukrainian rescue service had been transmitting information to Ukrainian forces about the positions and movements of the Russians in Balaklia “The first thing the Russians do when they arrive in Balakliia is destroy the communication towers and all connections with the outside world,” Strelec said “I had found two places where I could get a weak internet connection I would stay there for hours trying to send a single message to the Ukrainian armed forces Albina Strelec inside a police station cell where Ukrainian civilians were tortured Photograph: Emre Çaylak/The GuardianOn that day four Russian soldiers raided the command centre of the Balakliia rescue service She is convinced it was her colleagues who reported her to the Russian authorities Residents said hundreds of people in Balakliia had collaborated with the Russians and many of them subsequently fled to Russia after the liberation some continue to provide information to the FSB “There were two other women in the prison,” Strelec said “The treatment we received was different from that of the men I had hidden my cell phone with all the messages to the Ukrainian military before being arrested.” who were detained on the lower floor of the building could hear the cries of pain from the men being tortured upstairs I could hear her screaming while she begged them to stop.” The investigation by Ukrainian prosecutors into the Balakliia police station began a few days after the city’s liberation on 8 September 2022 prosecutors have identified 374 Russian soldiers belonging to various military units including the 126th regiment of the Russian national guard troops 11th army corps and the 244 artillery brigade of the 11th army corps of the Baltic fleet “we cross-referenced it with the photos found on numerous Russian social media platforms Then we showed each photo to the detainees That’s how we identified dozens of soldiers who took part in the massacres including two FSB agents and military commanders we hope to win this war to bring them to justice.” When reached over the phone by a Reuters reporter Buslov did not dispute that he was a military commander Despite the testimonies of thousands of residents and the hundreds of documents bearing his signature found in Balakliia the lieutenant colonel denied ever being there At least seven people detained at the police station were killed At least three people died from torture days after their release Головна Сторінка » English stories » Shot for pro-ukrainian position: occupation of Izyum and Balakliya through the eyes of doctors The bright red sign “Mines” is more noticeable than the hospital building itself behind which sappers have not yet checked the territory there is a soggy A4 sheet on which “The hospital is working” is handwritten in blue ink because part of the medical institution was swept away by several shell hits – it was the main entrance and a new surgical unit Izyum has been under occupation for more than 5 months the hospital remained a place where life was supported Slidstvo.info visited the Izyum hospital and talked to doctors who despite the occupation and terrible working conditions Some of the patients were evacuated to Sloviansk at the beginning of the full-scale war others moved to the basement together with the staff Beds for patients in the basement of Izyum City Hospital there is no sterility that should be in the operating theatre especially in the basement – there is no lighting,” says the surgeon of the Izyum hospital Anatoliy Kovalenko “We worked all the time on a diesel generator there were no usual tools – electrocoagulators or anything else.” They had to operate a lot and virtually blindly Sometimes more than 10 patients with severe shrapnel wounds were admitted to the hospital at the same time Medical workers of the Izyum city hospital provide assistance to the wounded man he also could not stand it in May and left the city two medical workers came to us and said: “Yuriy Yevheniyovych We had either 12 or 17 wounded then,” recalls the traumatologist Yuriy Kuznetsov He was in the hospital throughout the occupation because he had to help the patients both day and night “We all had depression here all around and comforted each other with different words and actions But with each saved life you think: “After all Yuriy Kuznetsov – the traumatologist of the Izyum City Hospital “The worst thing was that there was no communication there was no one to ask what to do and how to do it right – I had to remember everything I learned at the institute on both surgery and gynecology.” She worked on the other side of the Siversky Donets (transl She says that she tried to send most of the women before the labor had started to the occupied Kupiansk as it was safer and there were more doctors there “I had to take delivery in a Russian military hospital took me away carrying machine guns and brought me to her” The gynecologist took two more deliveries at her home She sutured the tears of the woman in labor with a veterinary needle and silk thread for patching sails She found it in her husband’s workshop “Russians did not give me any equipment Even to take delivery I did not have everything I had to invent something,” the doctor says The room in Olha Besedina’s house where she took delivery during the occupation The woman did not hide her pro-Ukrainian position even in the difficult days of occupation She says she sometimes came to work in an embroidered dress that she bought in western Ukraine before the full-scale war And on Independence Day she put a small blue and yellow flag in her office Olha Besedina remained the only gynecologist in Izium during the occupation “I am used to living in a free country Although not everything is as we would like it to be but at least there is some freedom of speech “Once I told one Russian military man that Bandera is our national hero I am not young anymore and the fact that I was the only one (gynecologist in Izium – ed.) But not all Izyum doctors with an openly pro-Ukrainian position survived In a conversation with ‘Slidstvo.info,’ Olha Besedina recalled the murder of a local forensic expert by Russian soldiers This fact was mentioned by other doctors who told journalists more details “Our forensic expert – Fedir Zebskyy – was shot dead It seems they wanted to take his car away from him and he expressed his pro-Ukrainian position… and they just shot him,” says Anatoliy Kovalenko the surgeon of the Central City Hospital of Izium Doctors were also mocked in neighboring Balakliya which was also de-occupied by the AFU in September doctors also worked under great pressure created by the Russian occupiers “They put machine guns to the head of the director (of the hospital – ed.) and her husband and said: “We are going to cut off your husband’s ears and make you eat them” They did such things here,” says Larysa “They came and felt like owners here It seems that they deliberately destroyed everything The nurse also told us about a fellow paramedic who was killed by Russians on suspicion of working for the Armed Forces of Ukraine “We had a young guy Viktor working as a paramedic in the intensive care unit,” Larysa recalls his face was unrecognizable and his knees were shot… What they did to him – you can’t watch without tears They said he was a spotter… He had a one-month-old child” The doctors eventually had to leave the building of Balakliya hospital on the left side of the river Most of the rooms there are destroyed or covered with garbage left by the occupiers medical care has been provided in the hospital in the city center This building is located directly opposite the police station where the occupiers set up a torture chamber According to Ukrainian law enforcement officers people were detained and tortured there during the occupation It was possible to end up in a cell for any trifle: “you are friends with the wrong person” “knew the former military commissar” or “someone from the locals pointed a finger” Some of them were released in a few days – and they fell into the hands of doctors This was told to us by the head of the therapeutic department of the Balakliya Clinical Multidisciplinary Hospital of Intensive Care Olena Mykolaivna “Those who came to us then all survived,” the doctor says “I think they all eventually left for the territory controlled by Ukraine Those who were hit on the head were sent to Kupiansk The exact number of Ukrainians killed and tortured in Balakliya during the Russian occupation is currently unknown Law enforcement officers assume that after clearing the territories from ammunition new mass graves will be found in the liberated settlements Slidstvo.Info agency traced the path of the 27-year-old Viktoria uncovering the conditions of her detention in .. who for the first time shared her experience of imprisonment and what is .. The Command of the Ground Forces told Slidstvo.Info that Oscar was captured in Luhansk Oblast and has been .. This article was published more than 2 years ago The remains of Verbivka school of Balakliya municipality which served as a Russian base during the occupation and was blown up after their retreat.Anton Skyba/The Globe and Mail the day the city of Balakliya was liberated by the Ukrainian army the retreating Russians fired a pair of missiles back at the territory they had just fled Their target wasn’t the Ukrainian military which had just almost completely routed Russian troops from Ukraine’s eastern Kharkiv region; the missiles instead slammed into the only school in the nearby village of Verbivka Standing Tuesday outside the shattered building where she worked for 22 years as a Ukrainian literature teacher the Russians had used the building as a base A week into the stunningly successful Ukrainian counteroffensive that has rolled back many of the territorial gains Russia made earlier in the war, the strike on the school in Verbivka stands out as an attempt to get rid of any evidence of how Russian forces ruled this part of Ukraine over the previous six months But proof of the harsh repression used to control Balakliya is too plentiful to completely erase of the kind of mass murder that Russian troops infamously carried out in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha But Russia ruled by fear and intimidation here too From his hospital bed, Ukrainian commander details troops’ stealthy recapture of Kharkiv region The other local hub of the occupation was the police station in the centre of Balakliya a small industrial city with a prewar population of 20,000 was where residents suspected of harbouring pro-Ukrainian sympathies were violently interrogated which Ukrainian police say were used to administer shocks 7 is punctured by a cluster of bullet holes suggesting interrogators would shoot just over the heads of their prisoners in an effort to scare them into co-operating the head of the investigative department of the Kharkiv regional police force called the room a “torture chamber” and said documents recovered in the police station seem to indicate the interrogations were carried out by Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) Boldinov said the Russian occupiers kept as many as 10 men in a cell As many as eight women at a time were kept in a separate room someone has chronicled their detention – starting May 22 and ending exactly a month later – by marking the days on the wall beside the squat toilet Locals said a minor comment interpreted as pro-Ukrainian could lead to days or even weeks of interrogation and harsh treatment everyone was silent,” said Volodymyr Kapustan If someone said something the Russian soldiers didn’t like They’d arrest you and take you to the school.” A forensic expert collects evidence at Balakliya police station.Anton Skyba/The Globe and Mail Prosecutors from Kharkiv Oblast inspect streets in Balakliya.Anton Skyba/The globe and mail Kapustan in an empty children’s playground another man shouted an obscenity about Russian President Vladimir Putin The violence continued until the very last hours of the occupation of Balakliya On the edge of a forest on the outskirts of town Tuesday Ukrainian investigators were exhuming the bodies of two men who 7 as they drove through a Russian checkpoint “I want to ask Putin: ‘Why did he kill my son Why did he bring his people here with all their scary weapons?’” said Valentina Shepel … I ask all the mothers who are living there [in Russia] to rise up against this murderer.” Valentina Shepel had to identify her son Pyotr’s body Joy in northeastern Ukraine as residents return after collapse of Russian occupation force Balakliya was the domino that collapsed the rest of the Russian front line in the Kharkiv region a counteroffensive that continues a week later with Ukrainian troops continuing to liberate towns and villages Tuesday Deputy Defence Minister Hanna Malyar said Ukraine had retaken more than 3,800 square kilometres in the region since the start of the month liberating some 150,000 people from Russian rule Tuesday was the first time Ukrainian forces have allowed media to enter the newly recaptured areas provides a snapshot of the ferocious fighting that took place which is almost impassable in places because of damaged bridges is lined with destroyed tanks and other armoured vehicles most of them marked with the “Z” symbol of the invaders Balakliya residents stand in line for humanitarian aid on the central square.Anton Skyba/The Globe and Mail A convoy of three small cars headed to Kharkiv was apparently destroyed by a missile strike It wasn’t clear what had happened to the passengers Gas stations and factories along the side of the road were torn apart by heavy weapons fire Locals said they were relieved to see the Ukrainian flag flying over Balakliya again The day her town was liberated was Lyudmila Sysina’s birthday The 64-year-old retired hairdresser and her husband had remained inside for most of the previous six months even through they had only sporadic water and electricity The few shops that remained open after the start of the war had food but few people in town could afford the rising prices of imported goods from Russia Sysina said as she patiently waited for a box of humanitarian aid delivered by truck Tuesday others desperately pushed past her to grab boxes of food was the feeling of being cut off from the outside world Mobile signals went dead in Balakliya in the first hours after the Feb and locals could only receive messages and catch up on the news if they dared to walk to one of the few places in town where it was still possible to get a faint signal that meant going long stretches knowing that their two police officer sons were somewhere nearby Her sons followed the first wave of troops into Balakliya “They came to see me and we celebrated,” she said Report an editorial error Report a technical issue Editorial code of conduct Authors and topics you follow will be added to your personal news feed in Following Mark MacKinnon has been covering international affairs and Canada’s role in the world since the Sept 2001 attacks on the United States and the subsequent war in Afghanistan One of Canada’s most decorated foreign correspondents, Mark has won the National Newspaper Award seven times, and was nominated for an eighth award in 2022 for his ongoing coverage of the Russian invasion of Ukraine Mark has been covering Russia and Ukraine since 2002 when he was first sent abroad to serve as The Globe and Mail’s Moscow bureau chief He covered the Orange Revolution in 2004 and Ukraine’s 2014 Revolution of Dignity and witnessed firsthand Russia’s subsequent annexation of Crimea as well as the start of the eight-year proxy war in Donbas Mark has also been internationally recognized for his coverage of the war in Syria, the rise of the so-called Islamic State and the refugee crisis that followed. His 2016 story The Graffiti Kids, which followed the lives of the teenagers who inadvertently started the Syrian war was named Story of the Year by the London-based Foreign Press Association He has also won accolades for his investigations into the garment industry in Asia and for his reporting from the 2011 tsunami and nuclear disaster in Japan Mark is the author of The New Cold War: Revolutions which was published in 2007 by Random House an e-book of his train travels through the Middle Kingdom along with photographer John Lehmann He now divides his time between London and Kyiv Welcome to The Globe and Mail’s comment community. This is a space where subscribers can engage with each other and Globe staff. Non-subscribers can read and sort comments but will not be able to engage with them in any way. Click here to subscribe If you would like to write a letter to the editor, please forward it to letters@globeandmail.com. 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For more information on our commenting policies and how our community-based moderation works, please read our Community Guidelines and our Terms and Conditions a rail bus started running between Kharkiv and Balakliia This is stated on the company’s official Facebook page It became possible thanks to the railway workers who promptly restored the bridge and dozens of damaged tracks and catenaries and the fare from Kharkiv to Balakliia will be UAH29/$0.78 Tickets are available for purchase at ticket offices and from conductors during the trip A comfortable rail bus is used on the route Gwara Media has already visited Balakliya and showed the life of the city after its de-occupation. The process of restoration is underway, in particular: postal operators Nova Poshta and Ukrposhta have started working, the Kyivstar mobile network has launched, and 70 tons of humanitarian cargoes have been sent. Torture victim Oleksandr Shutov and a cell at the police station in Balakliya Oleksandr Shutov was locked up for 36 days he huddled in a group cell and could hear the screams of other prisoners attached electric wires to his hands and tormented him with pulses of electricity but suffered through the torture of his friend Vanya She was one of the few women prisoners in Balakliya The article you are reading originally appeared in German in issue 39/2022 (September 24th They are three of possibly several hundred people who were thrown into prison in the town in northeastern Ukraine Just a few days after Putin’s troops began their invasion of Ukraine Russian warplanes flew sorties in the surrounding area and panic quickly spread among the residents Russian soldiers and their auxiliary forces from the self-proclaimed people’s republics in the Donbas moved into the town with tanks investigators have exhumed a mass grave in a forest containing the bodies of 445 civilians killed in recent months they found the corpses of 17 Ukrainian soldiers Some of the dead showed clear signs of torture Several had their hands tied behind their backs and at least one of the bodies had a rope around the neck Investigators also say that they have found 10 torture sites in the recently recaptured towns of the region On the tenth day after the town’s liberation dozens of elderly people are standing in front of a truck on October Street Aid workers from Kyiv have arrived to distribute flour and water noodles and canned vegetables along with medical supplies to those in need Just 100 meters from the gathered crowd is a gigantic crater likely the product of a bomb dropped from a Russian warplane as Ukrainian troops advanced into town not far from the monument to the national poet Taras Shevchenko nondescript structure with neon letters on the roof spelling out "BalDruk," the name of the publishing house that occupied the building before the war and investigators are walking across the courtyard points to the entrance door and says that the "Russian fascists" had operated from here the occupiers installed themselves inside the building and Ukrainian officials say that around 40 prisoners were held by the occupiers of Balakliya at all times spruce trees surround a three-story building of bright sandstone The Russian occupiers set up a base here too Dozens of people were apparently locked away in the cells and rooms on the ground floor and in the basement It could be months before investigators are able to paint a detailed picture of what took place inside the two buildings And several factors are making their efforts more challenging: Many residents are difficult to reach either because they have no phones or because the mobile network isn’t up and running again yet some suspected torture victims have left town while others are too traumatized to speak about what they experienced Oleksandr Shutov also doesn’t trust the peace that has returned to Balakliya he has decided to speak out – at the place where his suffering began vertical scar running between his eyebrows lending him a severe appearance and making him look older than his 22 years but when he shows where the guards attached electric wires to his fingers it becomes apparent that his hands are swollen and are shaking Oleksandr Shutov says that when the Russian soldiers came to arrest him It is impossible to confirm all the details from his story But DER SPIEGEL reporters spoke with relatives neighbors and friends of Shutov in addition to investigators and compared his narrative with that of other prisoners Shutov’s description of events along with witness testimony and preliminary results from the investigation allow for a preliminary reconstruction of the atrocities that took place in Balakliya during the six months of Russian occupation the war began for Shutov with shattered dreams he had received his trucker’s license and found a job with a dairy When the Russian army attacked the Kharkiv region with heavy artillery Oleksandr’s girlfriend Alina was among the hundreds of thousands of people who fled westward ultimately crossing the border to safety in Poland he spent much of his time with his grandmother Svyeta The occupiers set up roadblocks throughout the city patrolled the streets and even distributed their own newspaper called Kharkov Z a combination of the Russian name for the region and the symbol of the Russian invasion the Russians set up a Grad multiple rocket launcher They had little trust in the residents of areas under occupation and depended heavily on sympathizers and collaborators Investigators and residents say the Russians had their eyes primarily on two groups: Ukrainian soldiers and their families and all those that the Russians suspected of identifying targets for the Ukrainian artillery Oleksandr Shutov was once again visiting his grandmother a friend and neighbor of the same age as Shutov climbed up onto the roof of his house to get better reception for a phone call to his wife he was able to see a truck marked with a "Z" approach the house Russian soldiers stormed into the yard and called for Shutov He believes that a woman from the neighborhood had reported him to a neighborhood police officer who was working for the occupiers The soldiers pulled a hood over his head and forced him and Vlad into the military vehicle – regular Russian soldiers They drove him and his friend to the police station "They put Vlad in the fourth cell and me in the first." she is afraid that the Russians might come back empty cardboard boxes and garbage bags are strewn about on the floor and the windowsills Broken glass crunches underfoot in the offices there are two cots each behind the green metal doors Plastic bottles and items of clothing are scattered on the floor This is where Shutov spent more than a month The soldiers locked him in a dark room packed with eight people "They would continually bring in new prisoners Because the prisoners were kept in different cells he cannot say for sure how many people were locked away during his time there Shutov says the captives kept largely silent out of fear A prayer is scratched into the wall of one of the cells they were served soup if there was anything leftover after the soldiers and guards had eaten their fill "You can hardly call it food," says Shutov "There were worms and grub in the porridge." guards would pull a sack over his head and take him to a pit toilet at the end of the hall they would start yelling at him to hurry up Only rarely would the guards turn on the fans in the cell tract "They only did so when they were in a good mood," he says It was almost impossible for him to sleep given the lack of space The other prisoners encouraged him to lay down beneath the bed And then there were the screams coming from the interrogation room when the guards zapped the prisoners with electric shocks One Russian soldier from the Caucasus beat up the older prisoners "They even cut the ear off one of the prisoners from our cell." Around a month before Oleksandr Shutov was arrested another man whose parents also live on Gogol Street was taken to the police station a short-tempered 37-year-old with nervous eyes Former detainee Maksym Soter: "I don't want to think about that shit." "I don’t want to think about that shit," Soter says in greeting He says he fought in the Donbas from 2016 to 2018 against the Russian and their allies from the separatist regions the occupiers allowed Soter to go free after just three days at the police station "I didn’t see what they did to him." But he says that Vanya was in such bad shape that he had to feed him with a spoon and that he had smelled like excrement and urine the Russians brought him to a hospital in the city of Kupyansk One investigator confirmed to DER SPIEGEL that the case of a young man named Ivan The investigator said the young man died in Kupyansk A soldier attached wires to his fingers and then they sent an electrical current through his body everything inside of me pulled together and twisted around." The soldier asked about Shutov’s father Shutov replied by saying that nobody in his family was in the army "Bullshit," the soldier yelled as a second jammed a stun gun into his back "I can’t remember how long the interrogation lasted," says Shutov an acquaintance of his was brought to the police station: Lidiya Shulha the administrator of a village on the outskirts of Balakliya where Shutov’s parents live the administrator of a village near Balakliya who was detained by the Russian occupiers It was during the period when the Ukrainians were softening up the Russian lines in preparation for their rapid surge in the region They were firing on Russian positions with heavy artillery and the occupiers were growing increasingly nervous a Russian major and his deputy showed up and accused the 64-year-old of having communicated the locations of Russian positions to the Ukrainian army and threatened to blow her up with a grenade Shulha fled to a village in the surroundings but was ultimately found and brought to the police station in Balakliya two days later She was locked away in a basement room with three other women a woman’s handbag was still on the floor of the room "I was neither interrogated nor tortured," Shulha says "But I think the other women went through a rough time." One of them was 65 years old and the other two in their mid-50s "One woman said that we were in the hands of the FSB," the Russian secret service the prisoners began hearing nervous shouting from their guards The occupiers were running through the hallways the inmates were able to break open the cell doors with iron bars That is when Lidiya Shulha saw her acquaintance Oleksandr Shutov Neither of them was aware that the Ukrainian army had just liberated the town Videos of locals falling into the arms of soldiers were being uploaded to social media sites and one of them is from Gogol Street in Balakliya It shows Shutov’s grandmother Svyeta and her neighbors cheering on the Ukrainian troops Just as they did when retreating from the Kyiv region in spring the Russian troops in the area of Balakliya have left behind traces of potential atrocities 200 investigations against the Russian occupiers have already been launched in the Kharkiv region A publisher from Izyum also told DER SPIEGEL of being tortured with electric shocks A young construction worker from a town near Balakliya says that he lost his father when he stumbled into a booby trap in the neighbor’s yard Two farmers from the region north of Kharkiv accuse the occupiers of having taken family members back to Russia against their will Shutov’s grandmother Svyeta says that her grandson still has trouble sleeping and is anxious he is afraid that the Russian troops could return The horror of the occupation is still present in Balakliya With additional reporting by Artem Pribylnov Russia’s front line troops have fled their positions in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region as Ukrainian soldiers on Saturday forged ahead with a blitzkrieg to liberate occupied territories Ukrainian troops have made unexpectedly rapid gains in a counteroffensive to the east of the city of Kharkiv attacking key strategic towns such as Balakliia which are vital to supply and logistics for Russian forces based in the eastern Donbas region After several weeks in which the conflict appeared to be heading for a stalemate over winter the NATO-armed Ukrainians are now seeking to seize the momentum with a two-pronged attack in Kharkiv to the east and Kherson to the south Russia’s defense ministry sought to put a brave face on the Ukrainian successes in Kharkiv and suggested the Russian retreat conformed with the goals of President Vladimir Putin’s notorious “special military operation.” According to Major General Igor Konashenkov, Russian soldiers “located in the areas” of Izyum and Balakliia, liberated by Ukrainian troops on Friday “have been regrouped and transferred” to the neighbouring Donetsk region in order to “increase efforts in the Donetsk direction.” “In order to prevent damage to Russian troops powerful fire was inflicted on the enemy using aviation Putin himself has maintained a conspicuous silence on the military setbacks even though news of the retreats are starting to filter onto state media Putin took part in the inauguration of a giant Ferris wheel on Saturday to celebrate the anniversary of the city of Moscow the first footage apparently recorded by Ukrainian soldiers appeared from the outskirts of Izyum A short video featured a Ukrainian flag being raised over a check point next to a street sign with the city’s name Ukrainian sources reported on the recapture of the Russia-occupied town of Kupiansk a major railway junction near the border with Russia Specifically, Ukraine’s main security service SBU published photos of a group of soldiers from a special military unit in the town Oleg Nikolenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s foreign ministry, tweeted a photo apparently taken on Kupiansk’s main square with a group of soldiers holding a Ukrainian flag “Ukrainian troops are advancing in eastern Ukraine “It’s crucial to keep sending arms to Ukraine.” some Russian military social media channels are reporting that Russian troops have only been withdrawn from the part of Kupiansk perched on the west bank of the Oskil river one of the leaders of the pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine in 2014-2015 said that the Russian army faces “an acute operational crisis in a wide sector of the front which has already escalated into a major defeat.” all that is left for our side [Russia] is to consider how to prevent further setbacks and the escalation of an operational defeat into a strategic one,” he said He added that Ukraine had already won “the battle for initiative.” While attention is largely focused on Ukraine’s lightning advances to the east the armed forces are also clawing back land in the south toward the Black Sea port of Kherson Natalia Humeniuk, spokesperson for the Ukrainian forces in the south, was quoted by local media saying said that troops had advanced between “two to several dozen kilometers” on the southern front Even if the strongman’s health deteriorates further the truth is that the country’s opposition has little leverage on the situation The exiled dissident was tried in absentia by a Minsk court Ales Bialiatski was charged with financing protests in Belarus after the 2020 presidential election Kyiv is upset that the Belarusian opposition can’t galvanize street protests while the opposition wants to be recognized by Ukraine Ukrainians in newly liberated Balakliia describe how occupiers had been plotting the sham referendum on Moscow’s annexation Residents who had spent six months under Russian occupation queued to buy bread “When the Russians arrived I lost 10 kilograms There was almost nothing to eat for the first two months,” one customer he joked grimly: “That’s the upside of Moscow rule.” two eastern provinces partly run by Russia and its proxies since 2014 Over the summer Russia’s presidential administration paused preparations to carry out pseudo-votes on Ukrainian territory. This was because of a lack of support. They were hastily revived last week after the Russian army’s stunning military setbacks. Putin has responded by announcing a partial mass mobilisation at home designed to recruit up to a million men for his floundering campaign Next week Putin will announce the “results” they will show an overwhelming mandate for these new territories to join with Moscow the European Union and indeed the democratic world have condemned the exercise as illegal and meaningless not least because many inhabitants have fled And also ridiculous – with faux voting in the middle of a large and thunderous battle should Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s government try to take back new “Russian” lands and lining up at the borders with Georgia and Finland Local residents in Mariupol fill in documents before casting votes in a mobile ballot box on 24 September Photograph: Alexander Ermochenko/ReutersResidents in Balakliia told the Observer that Moscow had been carefully plotting the “referendum” for some time the town’s 15,000-strong population was forced to rely on Russian handouts and to hand over their passports and Ukrainian identification number It was a ploy to get hold of your personal data,” Valery explained “In return you got a packet of spaghetti and some tinned beef.” Russia’s FSB spy agency was thus able to put together a highly accurate list of citizens in occupied communities – which could then be used for election manipulation “Russia has plenty of experience dating back to Stalin of falsifying its results,” Valery observed He added: “Putin knows he’s a war criminal and is trying to hold on to his throne. That’s why he’s done mobilisation. He doesn’t believe Ukraine is a state and he wants to ‘de-nation’ us.” Was Russia’s leader mad? “Something like that. I’m hoping for a coup. He needs to be judged by God and man,” he said. “There’s a special place in hell for him. He reminds me of Louis de Funès the French comedian who made funny faces.” Around the corner from Balakliia’s pink-painted shop was a large crater left by a Grad missile It landed in May next to a five-storey building on Sobornaya street said the explosion killed his 65-year-old neighbour Vasily who had been sitting outside on a wooden bench Destruction in Balakliia Photograph: Sean Nolan/The Observer“He staggered to the entrance but didn’t make it,” Bayev said The blast blew out windows from all surrounding apartments shredded balconies and flipped a car into a children’s play area He said he wasn’t much looking forward to winter Russia’s project in what you might call state-building was well advanced A front-page photo showed a Moscow official touring a bread factory said his teacher told him his classes from September would be taught using a new Russian curriculum local support for annexation was extremely limited “When our boys came we celebrated with champagne I had hidden a bottle for that moment,” Natalia Sergeyevna recounted “If the enemy had made us take part in a referendum I would have spoiled my ballot paper No one here wants Russia.” What would happen now We will take everything back,” she predicted Voting in the sham referendum started on Friday Video showed Russian soldiers in balaclavas escorting “election” workers carrying ballot boxes According to Telegram posts from Russian-controlled towns officials have been going from house to house They have targeted the elderly who have received Russian pensions as well as anyone who signed up for humanitarian goods head of the Luhansk region’s military administration with paperwork filled out in the open in homes and yards The names of those who vote “no” are recorded in a notebook with the exercise used as a pretext to identify men of military age Russia’s next apparent terror tactic is to conscript Ukrainians in occupied areas to fight against their own army In his latest address Zelenskiy urged men to sabotage Putin’s war effort from inside From early summer months only women were allowed to leave Balakliia Residents charge their phones at a power plant in a street in Balakliia on 17 September Photograph: Juan Barreto/AFP/Getty ImagesCurrently Balakliia has no electricity or gas went to the town’s train station on Saturday to recharge his phone from a public generator He said he and his regiment would carrying on fighting regardless of the “result” or whatever Putin did next In the meantime, there is little prospect the war will end soon. Kyiv has made it clear it will not negotiate if Moscow annexes vast areas of eastern and southern Ukraine. It has promised to restore the country’s sovereign borders. That includes Crimea and where ethnic Tatars known for their pro-Ukrainian views are now being cynically drafted Ukrainian citizens who do vote for annexation – for whatever reason – can expect a reckoning When his insulin ran out he asked the Russians for help “When I collected the medicine they took my photo and put it in their swine paper My neighbours came round and beat me and my wife up,” he said adding unhappily: “What choice did I have?” On Saturday Ukrainian soldiers were making further gains. They were close to the city of Liman in Donetsk oblast, and were advancing slowly but surely towards the southern regional capital of Kherson, the target of another counter-offensive More than ever following this month’s successes Invasion by Luke Harding (Guardian Faber, £20). To support The Guardian and Observer, order your copy at guardianbookshop.com This is the archive of The Observer up until 21/04/2025 The Observer is now owned and operated by Tortoise Media.