Why is Ukraine’s Izium victory against Russia significant?

Izium is considered the gateway to Donbas region, a Russian-speaking area whose complete capture has been Russia’s key war aim since the beginning of the conflict. It is considered a passage to the Black Sea, and thus referred to as the Izium passage by the Russians, according to the Guardian.

Key Russian base

After capturing Izium, Russia was using it as a launchpad for carrying out attacks in the Donbas region. It was, in fact, Moscow’s main bastion – an operation and commands centre — next to a major frontline in the war. After capturing it early in the war, Russia used it as a logistics base to route supplies to its troops on the Donbas frontline.

Big boost for Ukraine

The Russian withdrawal from Izuim came hours after Ukrainian troops captured the city of Kupiansk – a key rail hub — farther north.

With this, Ukraine is back in control of two key logistics centres.

Kupiansk was the major railway station supplying Izium formations. First that supply line was cut, and then Russian troops were trapped and forced to retreat leaving behind weapons and ammunition stockpiles.

The fall of Izium and Kupiansk is a major setback for two reasons.

First, a loss of face for President Vladimir Putin and a demonstration by Ukraine that it is not only capable of holding out against Russian advances, but is also capable of defeating enemy troops in battle.

Second, the military setback. Citing a military expert, the BBC said that it is “the first time since World War Two that whole Russian units have been lost”. About the lighting speed with which the offensive unfolded, an Al Jazeera report said that it had taken Russia six weeks to capture Izium, Ukraine captured it back in less than 24 hours.

Serhiy Kuzan, a military expert at the Ukrainian Security and Cooperation Center, told the Guardian that the ones forced to retreat from the town were professional Russian soldiers, and not mercenaries or conscripts.