Russia claims to have encircled Ukraine troops in Kharkiv, but no one else can see it (Ukraine Battlefield update, Day 1,658)

Every day, the Ukraine Battlefield update newsletter offers a clear look at how the war is unfolding on the ground. Subscribe for free here to get the full text delivered to your inbox. Russia claims to have created a large encirclement in the Kharkiv region, but only it can see it. Russian forces are attempting to outflank Kostiantynivka and Druzhkivka from the west, while Ukrainian general Drapatyi is bringing in reinforcements. Mass air raids in both directions continue; Kyiv and Novorossiysk were both ablaze. Russia is attacking Ukraine’s border crossings with Moldova and Romania, killing two people at one of them. Maps of the day – Kharkiv region Videos of the day – AI drone attacks, HIMARS against Buk systems; Russian drone attacks civilian train Russia claims to have created a large encirclement in the Kharkiv region, but only it can see it. “Units of the Northern group of forces are developing an offensive east of Vovchansk. Earlier, they succeeded in creating an encirclement in this sector, trapping enemy units in dozens of border villages. Drones and artillery are continuously attacking the enemy inside. Cut off from supplies, Ukrainian formations are losing mobility and are gradually running out of food and ammunition.” This was how the Russian Telegram channel Rybar described the situation in the north-eastern part of the Kharkiv region on Tuesday evening. Its map can also be found at the end of this paragraph. If true, it would represent the most successful encirclement operation in this war since at least the spring of 2022. Both armies have repeatedly attempted to create encirclements, but retreating units either escaped at the last moment or the encircled area was so small that only a handful of soldiers remained inside it — as in Avdiivka, for example. This, however, concerns an area almost 25 km from west to east and 23 km from north to south. The Russian version of events therefore appears highly dramatic. But nothing supports it. Russia has shown no videos proving any of its claims. Nor do Ukrainian or independent analysts indicate anything of the sort. The number of mentions of an encirclement having emerged in reputable sources is zero. There are two possibilities. The Ukrainian army is maintaining “operational silence” in reverse — that is, in a situation where it is not doing well. But that makes no sense. It has used so-called OPSEC at least twice this year: during the liberation of villages in the Dnipropetrovsk region and now, during the cutting-off of the Russian salient north of Lyman. Concealing a defeat on such a scale would only be possible if the other side, conversely, did not yet want to announce its victory. Yet Russia’s claim that it has created an encirclement rests on announcements by its interior ministry, which since last week has declared, without evidence, the capture of villages that were supposed to close Ukraine’s retreat routes. This is what the area of the alleged encirclement currently looks like, according to the Finnish analytical group Black Bird Group: And this is how it looks according to the reliable OSINT project Playfra: And this is how it looks according to Ukraine’s DeepStateUA: At present, by far the most likely explanation is that this is another mapping operation intended to secure a virtual victory — one for which thousands more Russian soldiers will pay with their lives and injuries when they are sent to places that Russian units have supposedly controlled for a long time according to defence ministry maps, but which are in reality held by the Ukrainian army. Russia is attempting to outflank Kostiantynivka and Druzhkivka from the west, while Drapatyi is bringing in reinforcements. On Playfra’s map below, from Monday (7 September), note the village of Staroraiske inside the red oval. It is a settlement on Druzhkivka’s western edge where Ukrainian forces managed to capture three Russians. This was therefore a typical case in which Russia is able to send small groups of soldiers into thinly held defences, with these troops gradually attempting to infiltrate deeper and deeper into Ukrainian positions. The problem is that this is very far to the north. If you look at the map more closely, it will seem familiar. In the bottom left is a green area marking territory once captured by Russia and subsequently liberated. This is the famous Dobropillia salient, where fighting took place exactly a year ago. Russia is now infiltrating just a few km east of it, operating from the village of Sofiivka, which was fiercely contested throughout the year. The map is worth examining for at least two reasons. First, it shows how solid Ukrainian defences are in this area. Over the past 12 months, Russia has repeatedly attempted to make advances here, committing and allowing its airborne divisions to bleed out, yet it has advanced by only a few km at most. It also makes clear how dangerous the August 2025 salient was, and why the Ukrainian army invested so much effort in eliminating it. Russia threatened to use it to outflank the entire Sloviansk-Kramatorsk urban area in a wide arc from the west. It is now attempting something similar on a smaller scale. The following map is from Tuesday (8 September) and shows the main directions of Russian attacks and the Ukrainian counter-action from the north. Addendum.Still no big changes since the last report here.Stabilization work from the Ukrainian side is still ongoing; at the moment a clearing of Novomykolaivka, but perhaps of other nearby settlements as well, is ongoing. This is working on patching up the problem, which is… https://t.co/8mGf06iw4K pic.twitter.com/Z6f4XCH00a— Playfra (@Playfra0) September 8, 2026 As we have already written, the new army commander, Mykhailo Drapatyi, placed this sector under the command of the 1st Azov Army Corps. He is not limiting himself to administrative measures: new units are arriving to reinforce the defence. According to the specialised project Unit Observer, the 210th Assault Regiment was deployed to its western flank. It is one of the assault units that reported directly to Drapatyi’s predecessor, Oleksandr Syrskyi, and which often operated in a fragmented manner across different sectors. According to Unit Observer analysts, the regiment began arriving in the area in late August and has been publishing videos from there showing the results of its combat operations since the start of September. As several of its subordinate battalions have done so, it can be inferred that the entire regiment, rather than only parts of it, has been deployed here. The Ukrainian 210th Assault Regiment has also been deployed to the Kostyantynivka direction, apparently supporting the defense of the city’s western flank under the 19th Army Corps.Our sources currently point to the redeployment starting in late August, while the Regiment began… pic.twitter.com/qR6bPpCpUe— Unit Observer (@WarUnitObserver) September 8, 2026 The same source reported on Monday (7 September) that the command had transferred the 46th Air Assault Brigade to the left flank of the Kostiantynivka sector. The brigade had previously fought for almost three years in the southern Donetsk region. In this case, the redeployment began as early as July and, according to Unit Observer, the brigade is to reinforce the boundary between the 11th and 19th Army Corps, whose areas of responsibility meet precisely here. The assumption is that this is preparation for withdrawing the 24th Mechanised Brigade from the Chasiv Yar area, which it has defended since the spring of 2023 and the fall of neighbouring Bakhmut. 🇺🇦Ukraine's 46th Airmobile Brigade has been redeployed to the Kostyantynivka front, after nearly three years spent fighting in southern Donetsk oblast.According to our initial sources, including footage posted by the brigade itself, the unit is reinforcing the boundary between… pic.twitter.com/x4CWBKUzaF— Unit Observer (@WarUnitObserver) September 7, 2026 Mass air raids in both directions continue; Kyiv and Novorossiysk were both ablaze. “The Russians bombed us throughout the night. Kyiv was exploding and burning. We were all sheltering in bunkers,” the European Union’s ambassador to Ukraine, Slovak diplomat Katarína Mathernová, wrote on Tuesday (8 September). The russians bombed us all night. Kyiv was exploding and burning. We were all hiding in shelters.We had already received warnings yesterday that russia was preparing a massive attack. I went to sleep in the shelter. My hotel room was not safe. Just as homes, apartments and… pic.twitter.com/vwQJ10wJ97— Katarina Mathernova 🇪🇺 (@kmathernova) September 8, 2026 This is by no means an exaggeration: Russia is indeed continuing its efforts to exhaust the capital’s residents through constant air raids. During the night from Tuesday (8 September) to Wednesday (9 September), too, it attacked with ballistic missiles, Banderol missiles and drones. A residential building was hit in Kyiv, and the authorities issued a warning over air pollution. There were also injuries. Russian attacks directly targeting border crossings between Ukraine on one side and Moldova and Romania on the other are also a relatively new development. There are five such crossings in the Odesa region, and drones have repeatedly attacked them since August. During the past night, a Russian drone killed two civilians and injured three at one of them. Ukraine’s most visible action in the drone war over the past 24 hours was an air raid on the port of Novorossiysk. Ukraine claims that, alongside an oil terminal and other port facilities, it also hit warships involved in shelling Ukraine with cruise missiles. We are responding to Russia’s daily terrorist strikes – effectively and practically across its entire map. Over the past 24 hours, there have been results in Novorossiysk, in the Krasnodar region. A naval base was hit, including a terminal used to load oil, military port… pic.twitter.com/uUngNrIiGU— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) September 9, 2026 The extent of the damage cannot yet be determined from the videos known so far. However, a fire did indeed break out in the port. BREAKING: Ukraine’s Unmanned Systems Forces commander Robert “Madyar” Brovdi claims that last night’s combined Ukrainian strike on the Russian naval base in Novorossiysk 'lost' several military vessels, including missile carriers.He also says USF units struck targets around… pic.twitter.com/EAtw7ilkcw— Special Kherson Cat 🐈🇺🇦 (@bayraktar_1love) September 9, 2026 Videos of the day Ukraine’s defence ministry published a compilation of attacks by AI-guided drones. AI-guided strikes are up 10x since the start of 2026.The Ministry of Defence and Brave1 ran large-scale FPV trials with autonomous guidance: detect, acquire and hit a moving target from 500+ meters, no operator input.6 of 7 manufacturers passed and received procurement… pic.twitter.com/vYXKXLvDm0— Defense of Ukraine (@DefenceU) September 8, 2026 All restraint has already been abandoned in attacks on civilian targets. A Russian drone struck an unmistakably civilian train. A HIMARS rocket launcher, seen for the first time in a while, this time destroyed two Buk air-defence systems. What are the losses No update on Wednesday (9 September). By Monday (7 September), Russia had verifiably lost 24,066 pieces of heavy equipment (24,041 on Friday, 4 September). Of these, Ukraine destroyed 19,034 (19,009), 1,000 (1,000) were damaged, 1,194 (1,194) were abandoned by their crews and 2,838 (2,838) were captured by the Ukrainian army. The total includes 4,446 (4,441) tanks, of which 3,351 (3,346) were destroyed in combat. Ukraine lost 12,097 (12,040) pieces of equipment, of which 9,507 (9,451) were destroyed, 698 (697) damaged, 693 (693) abandoned and 1,199 (1,199) captured. The total includes 1,462 (1,459) tanks, of which 1,120 (1,123) were destroyed in combat. Note: Neither side regularly reports its own dead or destroyed equipment. Ukraine publishes daily figures for Russian casualties and destroyed equipment, which cannot be independently verified. This overview uses data from the Oryx project, which has compiled a list of equipment losses documented exclusively through photographs since the beginning of the war.