UKRAINE, KHARKIV OBLAST, Oct 4 —The 13th National Guard Brigade “Khartia” recently conducted a successful offensive operation near Lyptsi, reported the Kharkiv group of forces. 

Russia started its new offensive north and northeast in the Kharkiv region in May, but Ukrainian troops have stabilized the frontline in this section since. Now, heavy battles are ongoing in and around Vovchansk (three miles from the border, 46 miles away from Kharkiv) and near Lyptsi (six miles from the border, 12 miles from Kharkiv.)

According to the press service, the troops captured seven Russian positions and destroyed an anti-tank missile system and a howitzer.

“When you are advancing, you have a thrill. Because you realize that you are liberating your land,” an officer of the 13th National Guard Brigade “Khartia” told Radio Svoboda.  

The brigade’s officers said that the main factors making this assault possible were unexpectedness, movement from a direction that the Russian army did not know was possible, and clear planning of the operation.

One of the officers added that the Russians constantly monitor the main logistics roads and that the Ukrainian military knew that the Russians would spot them.

“We were counting on it [that the Russians would spot Ukrainian troops], and we thought about how to put out the artillery that would try to destroy our equipment,” said the officer of the 13th National Guard Brigade “Khartia.”

The “Khartia” has been engaged in combat in the Lyptsi direction since the beginning of a second Russian offensive in the Kharkiv region. In May 2024, the brigade was redeployed from the Donetsk region to the Lyptsi direction.

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