Frontline report: Ukrainian special forces liberate Kharkiv’s Starytsia, threaten Russian supply lines in northern Vovchansk

22 July.

Today there are a lot of updates from the Kharkiv direction.

The most interesting updates come from the western flank of Vovchansk. Here, the Ukrainians launched a counterattack with the goal of cutting Russians off in Vovchansk, and successfully completed the first stage of the operation.

In the past two months, the situation in Starytsia and Buhrovatka has remained stagnant following their capture by Russian forces. The Russians are maintaining their hold on these villages to secure the ground lines of communication to Vovchansk. North of Starytsia lies a large forested area and the villages of Ohirtseve and Hatysche, which are situated next to the main supply road for Russian troops in Vovchansk.

The Russian defenses in the Starytsia area are relatively weak. Most of their heavy equipment and artillery have been allocated for attacks in Vovchansk, with the expectation that the natural water barrier would simplify their defense strategy. Additionally, the need to redirect troops to relieve besieged forces at the Vovchansk Aggregate Plant has further strained their resources. As a result, only a few Russian infantry units are left to defend the village, creating a potential opportunity for Ukrainian fighters to exploit.

The goal of the Ukrainians is to advance on Starytsia and establish control of the village, using the nearby forest to the north as cover to covertly amass more troops.

Once secured, they would leverage the forest’s concealment to launch an attack on Ohirtseve, potentially overwhelming the village with an unknown number of troops. Capturing Ohirtseve would level the front along the Siverski Donets River, as the river is too wide for Ukrainian forces to ford. However, gaining this position would give the Ukrainians a significant advantage in Vovchansk, as they would be less than 2 kilometers from the main supply road. This proximity would allow Ukrainian forces to disrupt Russian ground lines of communication using mortars, snipers, and sabotage squads.

Such a significant offensive effort is not meant to be isolated just at Starytsia, because the Ukrainian command is planning an attack from Tykhe located on the eastern flank of Vovchansk.

For the attack on Starytsia, the Ukrainian command has gathered fighters in the villages of Izbitske and Hrafske to the south.

The operation has been assigned to the Shaman Special Forces Battalion of Defense Intelligence, known for being among the best-trained units in Ukraine. These fighters specialize in close-quarters combat, ambushes, squad tactics, and reconnaissance.

Combat footage from the area highlights the effectiveness of the Shaman Battalion fighters and the Ukrainian advances.

Initially, the Ukrainian fighters moved stealthily through the forests south of the village, using camouflage to avoid detection by nearby Russian squads. They then destroyed a Russian hideout, capturing one survivor. This success allowed the Ukrainians to establish positions in the forest, where they dug trenches and constructed wooden barricades to repel potential Russian counterattacks.

As Russian troops did not launch any counterattacks, the Ukrainians proceeded with their assault on Starytsia to the north, with a few special forces squads reaching the edges of the village.

The experienced and well-trained Ukrainian fighters utilized a variety of weapons, including snipers, rocket launchers, machine guns, and grenades, to suppress Russian firing positions. This allowed them to establish positions in houses within the village, eventually enabling them to take control of most of Starytsia. The original uncensored footage of these operations can be found on Reporting From Ukraine’s Telegram channel through.

The Ukrainian attack successfully broke through Russian defenses into the center of Starytsia, leading the Russians to anticipate another assault to the west of the village. Consequently, the Russians decided to destroy a river crossing on a dam near Starytsia. This action indicates that the Russians have depleted their combat capabilities in this part of the Vovchansk area and are no longer planning to advance in the region. Instead, they are focused on delaying further Ukrainian attacks by any means necessary.

Overall, the Russian general shortage of troops which created gaps at some parts of the front led to gradual crumble of defenses in certain areas which enabled the Ukrainians to initiate a flank attack.

Additionally, the Ukrainians are amassing forces in Tykhe, which can further strain the already weakened Russian defenses. An attack from both the eastern and western flanks could overwhelm the Russians, potentially forcing them to withdraw or face a siege.

Even a single vector of advance, if it reaches the main supply road, could effectively cut off Russian forces in Vovchansk. To prevent this, the Russians would have to relocate troops from other areas, which would only weaken their defenses across the region, facilitating further Ukrainian advances.

In our regular frontline report, we pair up with the military blogger Reporting from Ukraine to keep you informed about what is happening on the battlefield in the Russo-Ukrainian war.