The town of Sviatogorsk in the Donetsk region, judging by photos posted by Ukrainian social media users, has been retaken by the AFU. Local Telegram channels posted photos with a Ukrainian flag on the Sviatogorsk city council building. There is no official confirmation of this information yet.
According to Russian blogger Andrei Morozov (“Fighting Cat Murz”), the Ukrainian military has gained a foothold on the left bank of the Seversky Donets threatening the forces defending Liman from the rear:
“Try not to laugh but the Ukrainian Armed Forces successfully forced the Seversky Donets near Belogorivka, flanking the positions of 2nd Army Core of the LNR People’s Militia facing the Seversk-Artemovsk highway and ending up in the rear of the allied forces of Kuban Cossacks and Luhansk reservists still heroically defending the “forester's hut” near Krasny Liman. At night, from the sounds of it, HIMARS launchers shifted their attention from Kherson and Sloboda Ukraine and , after a long break resumed shelling of the Luhansk region.”
Earlier, the command of the AFU airborne assault troops confirmed the liberation of Bogorodichnoye near Svyatogorsk by publishing a video, which shows the Ukrainian military in that settlement.
The Sviatogorsk city council is located on the left bank of the Seversky Donets where Russian troops allegedly wanted to create a new line of defense.
Operational command South stated that since the beginning of the counteroffensive by the AFU in the Kherson region in recent weeks, 13 settlements and 500 square kilometers of territory have been liberated. Among the liberated settlements are Vysokopolye, Novovoznesenskoye, Mirolyubovka, Belogorka and Sukhoi Stavok. Vysokopolye, Novovoznesenskoye and Mirolyubovka border on the Dnipropetrovsk region, Belogorka and Suhoi Stavok border on the Mykolaiv region.
Kherson direction map as of 15:00 on September 12:
The Ukrainian General Staff reported that units of Russian troops on the northern bank of the Dnieper are discussing terms for surrendering their positions and weapons. It is unknown whether it’s a local surrender or a general surrender.
The Ukrainian Armed Forces inflicted a major operational defeat on Russia, retaking almost the entire Kharkiv region in a swift counteroffensive, according to a report by the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW). Within six days of the offensive, Ukrainian troops completely eliminated the Izyum bulge and drove Russian units eastward beyond the banks of the Oskol River and northward beyond the state border.
“The current counteroffensive will not end the war. Sooner or later it will end, and Russia will be able to build up a defense - and perhaps even launch local counterattacks. The war is likely to last until 2023. However, Ukraine has turned the tide of the conflict and taken the initiative. Now Kyiv can impose on Moscow where and how battles take place,” the institute's report said.
Earlier, it was reported that Ukraine had regained control of 3,000 square kilometers of territory, more than Russia had seized since April, the American Institute for the Study of War has estimated. By the evening of September 11, at least 40 settlements in the Kharkiv region had been liberated. The Ukrainian military approached the Russian border.
Also on September 12, Russian troops shelled Kharkov twice. Due to the shelling, the city was deprived of light and water for several hours, and the subway stopped. Around 1 pm., shells hit the city's Osnovyansky and Kyivsky districts, killing one and injuring six people, according to the head of the Kharkiv regional administration, Oleh Sinegubov. Around 5 pm the city was shelled a second time. The shells hit a densely populated area near which there are no military facilities, says Mayor Igor Terekhov. No casualties have been reported.
This is the third shelling within a day: on the evening of September 11, Russian troops shelled Thermal Power Plant 5, one of Ukraine's largest power plants.
Power went out in several regions at once, and four employees of the TPP were killed.
The counterattack launched by the AFU in the Kharkiv direction is likely to move to the right bank of the Dnipro River, to the Zaporizhzhia region, military expert and reserve colonel of the AFU Roman Svitan suggested in a conversation with The Insider. However, according to him, it is impossible to predict what tactics the Ukrainian troops will follow: the mechanisms of their actions are too unconventional.