Ukraine has launched a new front in the counteroffensive, this time moving east into the Kharkiv region. Yesterday the Guardian reported the town of Balakliia had been encircled by Ukrainian troops.

An official representing the Russian-controlled Donetsk People’s Republic said on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces “encircled” Balakliia, an eastern town of 27,000 people situated between Kharkiv and Russian-occupied Izium.

“Today, the Ukrainian armed forces, after prolonged artillery preparation … began an attack on Balakliia,” Daniil Bezsonov said on Telegram.

“At this time, Balakliia is in operative encirclement and within the firing range of Ukrainian artillery. All approaches are cut off by fire,” he said, adding that a successful Ukrainian offensive would threaten Russian forces in Izium, a strategically important town that Russia has been using for its own offensive in eastern Ukraine.

Today, Balakliia is more than encircled. President Zelensky just published this video of Ukrainian soldiers standing on a Russian flag in the city with the Ukrainian flag flying behind them.

🇺🇦 Zelensky published the video of #Ukraine flag over Balakliia.

“The city of Balakliia, Kharkiv Oblast, is under (Ukrainian) control. The order is complete.”
pic.twitter.com/kJ2puYVXru

— Ukraine News 🇺🇦 (@UkraineNews0) September 8, 2022

Here’s video of the Ukrainian army moving through the center of town.

Confirming video of the presence of the AFU at the building of the Balakliia City Council. pic.twitter.com/nhckHYAiAX

— 301 Military (@301military) September 8, 2022

People who’ve been living in Russian occupied territory for months are happy to see them.

Civilians are greeting #Ukrainian liberators in #Balakliia 🇺🇦 #Ukraine #UkrainianArmy #UkraineWillWin #Russia pic.twitter.com/Pk3ILaUXLj

— 🇺🇦 Ukraine Under Attack (@InvestorHumbl) September 8, 2022

And the push east has already moved on to another small town called Volokhiv Yar where the Ukrainian flag has also been raised.

The Ukrainian flag is raised over the village of Volokhiv Yar, which was occupied for 6 months. Reports on Ukrainian flags in Balakliya. 🇺🇦🇺🇦🇺🇦 pic.twitter.com/Jzvohwb2ho

— Maria Avdeeva (@maria_avdv) September 8, 2022

This graphic from the Guardian shows where these towns are located and where Ukraine might be headed next. The 1 on the map is Balakliia and the 2 is Volokhiv Yar.

The next stop might be Kupyansk which is a major transport hub for supplies heading to Izyum.

Expect to hear a lot more about Kupyansk as it is a key logistical hub for both truck and rail between Russia and the Donbas. If UKR takes it, Izyum is isolated, and Luhansk and northern Donetsk Oblasts are vulnerable. https://t.co/nBzwjLz1dA pic.twitter.com/OacwCwHPgu

— Aaron Astor (@AstorAaron) September 8, 2022

As Ukraine moves east, Russian collaborators may want to think about relocating themselves safely across the border. Today the Washington Post has a story about the Ukrainian hit squads that have been targeting collaborators for assassination.

Since Russian forces invaded in late February and began seizing Ukrainian cities and towns, close to 20 Kremlin-backed officials or their local Ukrainian collaborators have been killed or injured in a wave of assassinations and attempted killings.

They have been gunned down, blown up, hanged and poisoned — an array of methods that reflects the determination of the Ukrainian hit squads and saboteurs often operating deep inside enemy-controlled territory. The unpredictability of the attacks is meant to terrify anyone who might agree to serve in the puppet governments Russia has been creating with an eye toward staging sham referendums and ultimately annexing the occupied lands.

On Tuesday, the bloody roll continued.

Artem Bardin, the military commandant in Berdyansk, a port city on the Sea of Azov that Russia seized early in the war, was critically injured when a car exploded near the city administration building, according to Russia’s Tass news agency, which described the incident as a “terrorist act.”

Bardin’s legs were blown off and he suffered extensive blood loss…

Russia has claimed Bardin survived the explosion but Ukraine is saying he died from his injuries.

Colonel Artem Bardin, the Russian-appointed military commandant of Berdyansk (100 000 inhabitants), has died in a hospital from the wounds he sustained in a bomb attack in his car today by Ukrainian partisans.

It’s the 3rd assassination in recent days. pic.twitter.com/5jYaAVV7Wq

— Visegrád 24 (@visegrad24) September 6, 2022

Whatever the case, he won’t be going back to work and that seems to be the plan here. Killing the collaborators limits Russia’s ability to create a veneer of legality over the invasion by having these areas vote to leave Ukraine. But it’s difficult to do that when the puppet leaders can’t step outside.