This is Ukraine and this is Russia and this is the city of Kharkiv.
In this video I will show how this city is the key location for military operations in
East Ukraine, both in the War between Russia and Ukraine and the Second World War.
We’ll start with the theory.
Let's suppose that someone in this region needs to advance from east to west.
When doing so, he will run into the terrain with a large amount of dots.
This is the Donbas industrial area.
It consists of many towns that troops can use as fortifications, so it is difficult
to capture.
At the same time the dense road network allows the defenders to launch quick counterattacks.
Direct attacks into this area must be avoided and the attacker will need to go around it
whether from the south or north.
The gap in the south is narrow and vulnerable to a flanking attack, so in fact only the
northern route is feasible.
This is where Kharkiv comes in.
Kharkiv is also a built up area, which is easy to defend, while at the same time the
road network allows to launch counterattacks in many directions from Kharkiv.
If the enemy controls both Kharkiv and the Donbas, he will be able to cut off the attacking
forces.
In order to outflank the Donbas from the north, Kharkiv must be under the control of the attacking
side.
So here is a quick recap: if you want to advance through this territory, then in the south
your forces will be cut off, in the center you will be stopped in the urban terrain,
further north your troops will also be cut off and the easiest way to advance is to capture
Kharkiv or to go north of it.
At first the logic described above was not clear to the militaries involved in the fighting.
During the Second World War the German forces reached the area in late 1941.
They first attempted to take over the Donbas with a direct attack, but they could not break
through the Donbas industrial area.
This is the time the first battle for Kharkiv took place.
Then the Soviets went on the offensive.
They too attempted to take the Donbas with a direct attack.
They could advance outside the Donbas, but their attacks in the industrial area failed.
The Soviets must have realized: the industrial zone cannot be taken directly and we need
to bypass it from the north.
But the existing gap is too narrow and this makes it easy for the Germans to encircle
our forces.
So instead we should attack and take Kharkiv in order to secure our flank.
Then the Germans attacked and encircled the Soviet forces.
This would be known as the Second battle for Kharkiv.
The Germans gained the upper hand and began their own offensive.
They made it their goal to reach the Don and Volga rivers.
They moved in to bypass the Donbas from the North, outflanked it and forced the Soviets
to abandon the industrial area with the threat of encirclement.
The Germans proceeded further east and had some more successes.
But then their luck changed.
The Red Army started its own offensive and gained the advantage.
It wanted to continue the advance towards the Dnipro river, but for this they once again
needed to overcome the defenses of the Donbas.
This time also they did not act according to the geographic logic and launched their
main attack into the Donbas from the east and it was stopped in the industrial zone.
A smaller Soviet force attempted to bypass the Donbas and took Kharkiv, but they were
weak and this enabled the Germans to launch a counterattack and regain control over the
city.
This was the Third Battle for Kharkiv.
Now it was understood by both sides that Kharkiv was important.
The Soviets wanted to take the city and the Germans wanted to straighten out the front,
so they could better defend it.
The Germans attacked, but they were defeated.
The Soviets continued forward and captured the city of Kharkiv in the fourth battle for
the city.
With the city in their hands they bypassed the Donbass from the North and this forced
the Germans to abandon the Donbas and retreat to a new defensive line on the Dnipro river.
The Soviets soon proceeded forward and eventually pushed all of the German forces out of the
Soviet Union.
The Soviet Union had won the Second World war, but in 1991 the Soviet Union was dissolved
and its republics Ukraine and the Russian Federation became independent countries, but
soon they entered into conflict.
The border left both Kharkiv and the Donbas industrial area under Ukraines control, which
gave it strong defensive potential.
In 2014 the Pro-Russian separatists took control over half of the Donbas industrial area and
in 2022 Russia launched a full scale invasion of Ukraine.
At first it planned to take over Ukraine by capturing Ukraines capital and installing
their own government, but it did not succeed.
Then they went with plan B, which was to occupy the greater Donbas region.
They quickly occupied the area south of the industrial zone and in the north of it.
But they got into trouble, when fighting around the cities.
Their attempt to take Kharkiv failed and their attacks in the northern part of the industrial
zone bogged down.
With the Russian offensive halted, Ukraine needed to find the weakest part of the Russian
front, where to launch a counterattack.
There were three possible areas to choose from:
Geographically the most vulnerable position was in the west, but the Russians had strongly
reinforced it, which made attacking here difficult.
In the center there was a possibility to cut off the Russian forces, but the straight front
line offered few tactical advantages for launching an attack.
But in the east the Russian positions were vulnerable for flanking attacks from both
Kharkiv and the Donbas industrial area.
Ukraine decided to launch an attack here.
The Russian forces were caught in a difficult position and they had to retreat leaving behind
much equipment, which was a major success for Ukraine.
This would become the second battle of Kharkiv for this war - the Kharkiv counteroffensive.
Adding the two battles of Kharkiv of the Russo-Ukrainian war to the four of the Second World War, we
will get six battles of Kharkiv.
So what is the point?
I guess that, if for whatever reason a situation arises, where you must direct offensives in
Eastern Ukraine, go through Kharkiv or north of it, don’t go south of it.
If you enjoyed this video, then the topic was chosen by the Patrons of the Eastory channel.
Three of whom will get a special shout out for no particular reason: Kyle Askine, Johan
West and Eric Strachan.
I am not sure if I butchered these names, but here you are.
Thank you!