War in Ukraine (2024)

1st Battle of Kharkiv

The first battle of Kharkiv was a very close fought battle between the fresh Russian forces and the stunned Ukrainian forces who were unprepared for the sudden national attack. The Kharkiv region contains the major city of Kharkiv and is one of the most important cities in the country because of its political, military and financial support it holds for the whole of Ukraine. And following the invasion of Russian troops on February 24th 2022 the Ukrainian government have worked hard around the clock to defend the city from any further advances or reinforcements from the Russian ministry of defence. By sending many men and resources to stop the Russian advances quickly.

The battle of Kharkiv started the same day as the invasion began and did not end until May 14th where Ukrainian troops desperately defending the strategically important city were able to make the Russian forces retreat back to the border where it still roughly resides to this day. However the city was dangerously close to defeat after the Ukrainian forces were not given the time to set up effective defences and fortifications. The Russians had sent around 15,000 to 20,000 men during the first days of the war and they were going up against 7,000 to 15,000 Ukrainian soldiers who were similarly equipped and trained.

The Russian forces were fresh thus they were able to gain a foothold of the terrain surrounding the city of Kharkiv. However the Ukrainian command were clever and used the limited time they had to pull up fierce defences for the city. And they were prepared for the Russian assault. After the foothold was achieved the Russians did not wait for reinforcements or supplies and they went in with full force however when they launched the assault they were not expecting to come across resistance that was this tough and they were quickly halted to a stalemate just outside the city suburbs. And the Ukrainian command ordered reinforcements to arrive to the front and they did. Another 7,000 men had arrived and they were prepared for the time to counterattack. And for the first few months not much other then a painful stalemate ensued and by April the Russian troops were in retreat and they failed to hold off any Ukrainian attacks. And by May the chances of taking Kharkiv had reached an all time low. And by May 14th the battle ended In a decisive Ukrainian victory and the first major loss of the Russian military. And still to this day, the Russian army still attempts to take Kharkiv and has reopened a small front that has seen no significant impact or advances since October 1st 2024. Only small Ukrainian troops numbers have done small skirmishes and have slowly pushed the Russians out of neighbouring smaller towns and villages. No further reports have come of recently. However despite the city of Kharkiv being in safe hands, there were other major cities under threat of attack...