The counter-offensive of the Ukrainian Armed Forces northeast of Kharkiv is making significant progress and is likely to move towards the Russian border in the coming days or weeks, according to the American Institute for the Study of War..

“Russian troops are making some withdrawal as a result of successful Ukrainian attacks and have reportedly destroyed three bridges to slow down the Ukrainian advance.. Armies usually only destroy bridges if they have basically decided they won't try to cross a river in the other direction any time soon.. Therefore, it is unlikely that Russian troops will begin an operation to return the northeastern outskirts of Kharkov, dismissed by Ukrainian troops, in the near future,” American analysts say..

The purpose of the offensive of the Ukrainian forces is to push the Russian troops out of the reach of Kharkov with artillery and force them to retreat to the border of the Russian Belgorod region.

“The Ukrainian counter-offensive is forcing Russian units intended for deployment elsewhere to redeploy to the Kharkiv front to stop Ukrainian attacks..

Given the current pace of Ukrainian advancement, Russian troops may not be able to prevent Ukrainian forces from reaching the Russian border, even with additional reinforcements..

At the same time, the offensive in the Kharkov direction does not interfere with Russian forces near Izyum.

The day before, the General Staff reported that the armed forces of Ukraine continue their offensive in the Kharkiv region and established control over the settlement of Tsirkuny.