Could this really be the trend?

from
https://hotair.com/ed-morrissey/2022/09/10/it-will-be-like-an-avalanche-ukraine-seizes-key-strategic-city-russia-pulling-back-n495551

“It will be like an avalanche": Ukraine seizes key strategic city;
Russia "pulling back"? UPDATE: NYT reports Izyum in Ukraine control
ED MORRISSEY Sep 10, 2022 11:31 AM ET

AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky
Has a Russian collapse along its eastern line begun? When it became
clear that Russia’s attempt to decapitate Ukraine’s government by taking
Kyiv failed, analysts noted that the clock had started on Russian
stamina for its invasion. Some predicted that Vladimir Putin would have
to either achieve victory in some overwhelming fashion as early as
September or face ruin as the invasion exhausted its resources.

Well, September has arrived, and so has a multi-front Ukrainian
counter-offensive. And it appears that the collapse may have started in
Kupyansk, a key strategic position that could put the Russian eastern
line in danger:

Ukrainian forces seized most of a strategically vital city in
northeastern Ukraine on Saturday, cutting the main supply line to
thousands of Russian troops near the eastern city of Izyum and marking
the biggest strategic gain Ukraine has made since the start of an
offensive this week.

Photos from Russian and Ukrainian channels on Telegram showed Ukrainian
soldiers holding the country’s flag in front of the city hall in
Kupyansk, and Kremlin-loyal Russian military correspondents said
Moscow’s forces had pulled back across the Oskil River to the eastern
part of the city.

Ukraine’s control over the critical infrastructure of the city and the
success of this week’s advance signal to Western backers the
effectiveness of weapons the U.S. and Europe has given to Kyiv.

The seizure of this city may have doomed thousands of Russian troops in
positions gained in late spring:

The Kupyansk rail and road hub located in the western half of the city
was the last artery connecting Russia with thousands of troops on
territory that represented the bulk of Russia’s gains in May and June.
Ukraine’s control of the road network also threatens Russia’s hold on
Izyum, a city Moscow had planned to use to launch further attacks on
Ukrainian-controlled parts of the Donetsk region in the country’s east.

The U.K. Defense Ministry said Saturday that Izyum was becoming
increasingly isolated. Analysts say Ukraine is aiming to encircle a
pocket of Russian troops around Izyum east of the Oskil River.

“Izyum will soon be ours,” said a Ukrainian commander fighting near the
city.

The new offensive has captured a lot more than just Kupyansk (also
spelled Kupiansk in some reports). Ukraine claims that it has reclaimed
more than 2500 square kilometers in and around Kharkiv Oblast since the
beginning of the month. ISW reports that significant numbers of POWs
have been transported out of the area.

The Kremlin has been uncharacteristically silent about these
developments, but there’s a sense of panic now. They’re shifting the
same units back to the Kharkiv theater that they shipped to Kherson to
deal with the counteroffensive there, and that’s getting notice by
Russian milbloggers who have been reliable in their propaganda until
recently:

Ukrainian forces may collapse Russian positions around Izyum if they
sever Russian ground lines of communication (GLOCs) north and south of
Izyum. Ukrainian forces continued to advance on Kupyansk and towards
Izyum on September 9, and are undertaking measures to isolate the
Russian Izyum grouping of forces. If Ukrainians are successful in
severing the Russian GLOCs, then they will have an opportunity to create
a cauldron around Izyum and collapse a major portion of the Russian
positions in northeastern Ukraine.

The Kremlin is rushing resources to the Kharkiv City-Izyum line in an
attempt to halt Ukrainian advances after Ukrainian forces achieved
remarkable operational surprise. The Russian Ministry of Defense (MoD)
and Kremlin wires published footage of Russian military convoys
reportedly en route to reinforce Kupyansk, Izyum, and the general
Kharkiv direction but did not acknowledge Ukrainian successes in the
area.[3] While Russian milbloggers largely welcomed the reports of
reinforcements, some criticized the Kremlin for first relocating units
away from the Kharkiv City-Izyum line, only to deploy them again to the
same location.[4] Russian forces have been redeploying out of southern
Kharkiv Oblast to reinforce Donetsk Oblast and the Southern Axis to
address the threat of a Ukrainian counteroffensive in Kherson Oblast and
to resume offensive operations west of Donetsk City for several weeks.[5]

And ISW made this prescient call late yesterday:

The successful Ukrainian counteroffensive is upending the Kremlin’s
effort to make Izyum an economy of force area. Some milbloggers also
noted that September 10 will be a decisive day if Russians are unable to
generate reserves and capable command in time.

The loss of the rail head in Kupyansk would make today a critical moment
in the war indeed. And that would explain what little Russia is saying
about its Kharkiv line, which is an acknowledgment of defeat:

Russia’s Defense Ministry said Saturday that it is pulling back forces
from two areas in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region where a Ukrainian counter
offensive has made significant advances in the past week.

Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov said the troops would be
regrouped from the Balakliya and Izyum areas to the Donetsk region.
Izyum was a major base for Russian forces in the Kharkiv region.

Konashenkov said the move is being made “in order to achieve the stated
goals of the special military operation to liberate Donbas,’” one of the
eastern Ukraine regions that Russia has declared sovereign.

The claim of pullback to concentrate on Donetsk is similiar to the
justification Russia gave for pulling back its forces from the Kyiv
region earlier this year.

Remember what excuse Moscow used for that “regrouping”? It was to focus
its attention on the south of Ukraine, especially Kharkiv and Kherson —
the two points between which Russia has flip-flopped resources to avoid
getting pushed off its lines. If all they’re able to do now is
“regroup,” that makes it look like Russia’s playing a shell game with
its exhausted resources in Ukraine.

But it might be even worse for Russia, CNN reported later in the
morning. Ukraine now claims that its troops may have penetrated as far
as the outskirts of Izyum itself:

The Associated Press notes the tactical surprise Ukrainians achieved in
this counter-offensive still remains in effect. British analysts
marveled at the “economy of force” used by Russia to defend this vital
strategic link:

Earlier Saturday, the British Defense Ministry told reporters it
believed the Ukrainians had advanced as much as 50 kilometers (30 miles)
south of Kharkiv, and described Russian forces around Izyum as
“increasingly isolated.”

“Russian forces were likely taken by surprise. The sector was only
lightly held and Ukrainian units have captured or surrounded several
towns,” the British military said, adding that the loss of Kupiansk
would greatly affect Russian supply lines in the area.

Ukraine has kept up the pressure in the south as well:

The fighting in eastern Ukraine comes amid an ongoing offensive around
Kherson in the south. Analysts suggest Russia may have taken soldiers
from the east to reinforce around Kherson, offering the Ukrainians the
opportunity to strike a weakened front line.

Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov told the television channel
Ukraina that the Russians had no food or fuel for their troops in the
area as Kyiv had cut off their supply lines.

“It will be like an avalanche,” he said, predicting a Russian fallback.
“One line of defense will shake and it will fall.”

That matches up pretty well with the post-Kyiv assessment of Russian
capabilities. The first weeks of the war showed Russia’s deficits on
leadership, tactics, and morale. The next few weeks showed how poorly
their materiel performed in the field, but they still had the tactical
advantages of quantity. Those are now being rapidly exhausted, leaving
Russia with nothing except an overstretched line facing ferocious and
well-armed opponents looking to regain their own land.

One line of defense for Russia is more than just shaking. And it looks
like it may fall right on schedule.

Update: If this is true, then the Russians are in real trouble:

Ukrainian forces entered the key Russian military stronghold of Izium on
Saturday, continuing their rapid advance across the northeast and
igniting a dramatic new phase in the more than six-month war.

“Izium was liberated today,” the city’s mayor, Valeriy Marchenko, said
in an interview. While he was not yet in the city himself, he said that
he was in contact with the police and that emergency services were
working to clear it of possible hazards before residents could return.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense — which a day earlier had said that it was
moving to reinforce its defensive positions in the region — confirmed on
Saturday that it had pulled its forces out of Izium, six months after
its forces laid siege to and then seized the city. In a statement, it
presented the retreat as a preplanned move, intended to strengthen its
efforts in the east where its army has been bogged down for weeks.