17 May: Kharkiv Holds Strong: Ukraine's Multi-Layered Defense Halts Russian Assaults! - Reporting from Ukraine

Day 814: May 17

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

Here, Russians made tactical gains along the border and recently reached Liptsy and Vovchansk, the two main strongholds in the Kharkiv direction. Ukrainians are making incremental efforts to stabilize the front and put the Russian offensive to a halt. The situation was very unclear last time we discussed this direction, as the border settlements north of Liptsy and Vovchansk were in a grey zone. As the situation further developed, new information about the events in this direction became available.

The first line of defensive fortifications stretches from Liptsy up to Vovchansk and Kupiansk. The line is located five to ten kilometers from the international border, and the reason for this is that any equipment and force concentrations would be detected and fired upon directly at the border. Russians used to fire artillery and missiles at forces concentrations of pro-Ukrainian groups like RVC during their incursions at the border, demonstrating how unsafe the immediate border is for large troop groupings. For this reason, borders were never heavily protected, so Ukrainians only deployed small infantry squads on the immediate border.

The protection of Ukraine's immediate borders is assigned to the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine, a branch subordinated to the army. The army was the first to respond to initial Russian attacks on Kharkiv. The task of the border guards was to meet the Russians at the border, report to the headquarters about the Russian offensive, estimate their strength, and then manage a fighting withdrawal to the first line of defense. Meanwhile, the leading Ukrainian forces manning the fortifications were to adjust themselves to meet the Russian offensive and allocate additional troops held in reserve in Kharkiv city to react to such developments.

During the fighting in Liptsy direction, despite challenging conditions, small Ukrainian Border Guard units managed to hold their ground for eight to ten hours on the first day of the offensive without reinforcements or contact with other units, a situation they were prepared for. As a result of continuous Russian assaults in this area, the villages of Strilecha, Krasne, Morokhovets, Borysivka, and Oliinykove came under their control. However, by then, the Border Guard units continued their fighting withdrawal to the following positions meant to slow the Russian advance to the first line of defense at Liptsy.

Such fierce resistance did buy invaluable time for regular Ukrainian units to allocate troops along the villages of Zelene, Lukiantsi, and Hlybove. At the same time, the main force adjusted themselves at the first line of defense. These positions were prepared to slow down the Russians by taking Lukiantsi, Hlybove, and Zelene to give them more time to strengthen the first line of defense. Due to the lack of natural barriers or good geographic positions, Ukrainians continued the fighting withdrawal south of Lukiantsi. Meanwhile, in Hlybove, Ukrainian reinforcements in the form of the Forty-second mechanized brigade made quite a difference due to their intense FPV drone strikes. Drone operators of the Forty-second mechanized brigade managed to repel wave after wave of Russian armored assaults, causing a slower advance for the Russians. Ukrainian control of part of the village to the south of a small river enabled these highly efficient strikes, which Russians still struggle to cross over.

This overall line of defense was the first of many fortifications in extensive, multi-layered defense-in-depth deeper in the region that Ukrainians prepared. Such complex lines of defense will gradually slow the Russian advance until it comes to a halt. Hlybove, Lukiantsi, and Zelene positions are only meant as a short-term defense until more Ukrainian reinforcements arrive to reinforce and adjust at the first line of defense, some three kilometers south of the current frontline.

Meanwhile, the Ukrainian army deployed additional reinforcements from reserves in Kharkiv, including elements of the elite special forces unit Kraken and the two-hundred-fifteenth territorial defense brigade. These units managed to additionally stabilize the front to the point where...