On September 6, 2022, the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a counteroffensive in Kharkiv region. Already on September 8, the Ukrainian military liberated twenty settlements, including Balakliya, Kupyansk and Izyum. In the second half of September, the Armed Forces broke through the Russian front line along the Oskil River and crossed to its left bank. As a result of the unexpected breakthrough of the positions of the Russian occupiers, by September 12, the Ukrainian military liberated a large part of the Kharkiv region.
Today, the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers publishes photos of Sergei Korovayny, who documented the liberated cities and villages of the Kharkiv region from the Russian army.
On August 29, Ukraine announced an imminent counteroffensive in southern Ukraine. The message was part of a disinformation campaign aimed at diverting Russian troops from Kharkov. Russia has redeployed thousands of its troops, including elite units, to the Kherson region, leaving its forces in Kharkiv significantly weakened and vulnerable to attack.
Slobozhansky counteroffensive of the Ukrainian Defense Forces began on September 6, 2022. Having concentrated the necessary forces north of Balakliya in the area of Verbivka, Ukrainian troops moved to the offensive in the directions of Balakliya — Volokhiv Yar — Shevchenkove — Kupyansk and east of Balakliya. The next day, September 7, the Armed Forces advanced at least 20 km into Russian-controlled territory and recaptured about 400 square kilometers of Kharkiv region.
The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (IWS) said in its September 7 report: “Presumably, on September 7, Ukrainian forces used tactical surprise to advance at least 20 km into Russian-controlled territory in the eastern Kharkiv region, recapturing approximately 400 sq. miles of territory.”
The commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces General Valeriy Zaluzhny stressed that Balakliya was an important communication hub in the south of Kharkiv region. Zaluzhny noted that the de-occupation of the city created favorable conditions for the development of the offensive on Kupyansk.
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As a result of the unexpected breakthrough of the positions of the Russian occupiers, the Ukrainian military liberated a large part of the Kharkiv region. On September 8, the city of Balakliya was liberated. On September 10, Kupyansk and Izyum were recaptured by Ukrainian troops, who were advancing to the Liman. The New York Times noted that “the fall of the strategically important city of Izyum, in eastern Ukraine, is the most devastating blow to Russia since its humiliating retreat from Kiev.” When Ukrainian troops entered the towns of Balakliya and Izyum, they discovered numerous mass burial sites.
On September 12, the Defense Forces liberated the villages of Velykyi Burluk and Dvorichna, entered Svyatogorsk in the north of Donetsk region. The Armed Forces liberated almost the entire Kharkiv region, except for the strip behind the Oskil River. On September 13, the Ukrainian military established a bridgehead across the Oskil River near the village of Borova. By mid-September, Ukrainian troops broke through the Russian defense line along the Oskil River, and on September 17, the Armed Forces of Ukraine moved to the left bank of the Oskol. On September 18, the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the military governor of the Luhansk region Serhiy Gaidai confirmed in their Telegram channels that Ukraine had crossed and controlled the lyre the coast of Oskol. On September 30, Ukrainian troops liberated Yampil, a key village 8 km southeast of the estuary. According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba, Ukraine's counterattacks prove that the Ukrainian military can end the war faster with more Western weapons.
Photographer Serhiy Korovaynyi documented life in Kharkiv region immediately after its liberation from the Russian military.
“Most of all, I remembered how much in the de-occupied villages and towns people were thirsty for ordinary things for Ukrainians — access to services, for example, Nova Poshta, to normal mobile communication, the Internet,” Serhiy Korovaynyi recalls. “In the points where the starlink worked, there were always a lot of people with phones — they called They told my family and it was very moving.”
Serhiy Korovaynyi documented the liberation of Kharkiv region together with the team of The Wall Street Journal.
“At that time, the fighting for the Estuary continued, the Kharkiv offensive was ending and I really wanted to go to the front. Nevertheless, the publication has already formed teams that shoot the military. In such a situation, you need to be a team player and focus on the tasks from the media. That's why I photographed humanitarian stories,” explains Serhiy Korovaynyi.
The photographer remembered the huge number of Russian flags that the occupiers brought to Kharkiv region.
“The Russian military everywhere painted their tricolor on the streets of cities. The flags were in the offices, in school classrooms, on the streets — it was as disgusting as possible, — says Sergey Korovaynyi. “We worked a lot in schools — my journalist colleague made material about how the Russians implemented their education. Their inscriptions remained on the boards, textbooks in the offices. It was very unpleasant to see it all.”
Serhiy Korovaynyy witnessed several times how Ukrainian military removed Russian flags from liberated settlements in Kharkiv region.
“I remember how the military repainted the sign of the city of Kupyansk on a Ukrainian motif and added an apostrophe in the name,” says the photographer. “A Ukrainian BMP was hit at the checkpoint near Kupyansk. People brought flowers there — and it was very moving as well.”
The photographer and his colleagues communicated with people who were in Russian captivity. Sergey adds that working in the liberated territories is at the same time joyful and very difficult, because local residents have experienced very difficult times.
“It seemed that for the people of the liberated Kharkiv region, everything bad was already behind. Instead, since then, I have come several more times and worked on stories from Izyum, Kupiansk and small villages to which the front came very close. People there still live in very difficult conditions, without light, water, in unfinished houses. We would very much like this suffering of people to end quickly,” says Serhiy Korovaynyi.
Serhiy Korovaynyi — Ukrainian documentary photographer, actively covering the events of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Collaborates with international publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, The Guardian, Financaial Times and others. In his projects, he focuses on the topics of the Russian-Ukrainian war, ecology, and various aspects of Ukrainian modernity. He was educated in the United States in the Master's Program in Visual Storytelling as a Fulbright Program Fellow. In 2018, he joined The Gate, a leading Ukrainian photo agency. Sergey's works have been exhibited at numerous personal and collective exhibitions in Ukraine, the USA and the EU.
Photographer's social networks: Instagram, Facebook
The material was worked on:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Kateryna Moskalyuk
Bild-editor: Vyacheslav Ratynskyi
Literary Editor: Julia Futei
Site Manager: Vladislav Kuhar
The project is implemented thanks to support of The Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation.
On September 6, 2022, the Armed Forces of Ukraine launched a counteroffensive in Kharkiv region. Already on September 8, the Ukrainian military liberated twenty settlements, including Balakliya, Kupyansk and Izyum. In the second half of September, the Armed Forces broke through the Russian front line along the Oskil River and crossed to its left bank. As a result of the unexpected breakthrough of the positions of the Russian occupiers, by September 12, the Ukrainian military liberated a large part of the Kharkiv region.
Today, the Ukrainian Association of Professional Photographers publishes photos of Sergei Korovayny, who documented the liberated cities and villages of the Kharkiv region from the Russian army.
On August 29, Ukraine announced an imminent counteroffensive in southern Ukraine. The message was part of a disinformation campaign aimed at diverting Russian troops from Kharkov. Russia has redeployed thousands of its troops, including elite units, to the Kherson region, leaving its forces in Kharkiv significantly weakened and vulnerable to attack.
Slobozhansky counteroffensive of the Ukrainian Defense Forces began on September 6, 2022. Having concentrated the necessary forces north of Balakliya in the area of Verbivka, Ukrainian troops moved to the offensive in the directions of Balakliya — Volokhiv Yar — Shevchenkove — Kupyansk and east of Balakliya. The next day, September 7, the Armed Forces advanced at least 20 km into Russian-controlled territory and recaptured about 400 square kilometers of Kharkiv region.
The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (IWS) said in its September 7 report: “Presumably, on September 7, Ukrainian forces used tactical surprise to advance at least 20 km into Russian-controlled territory in the eastern Kharkiv region, recapturing approximately 400 sq. miles of territory.”
The commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces General Valeriy Zaluzhny stressed that Balakliya was an important communication hub in the south of Kharkiv region. Zaluzhny noted that the de-occupation of the city created favorable conditions for the development of the offensive on Kupyansk.
As a result of the unexpected breakthrough of the positions of the Russian occupiers, the Ukrainian military liberated a large part of the Kharkiv region. On September 8, the city of Balakliya was liberated. On September 10, Kupyansk and Izyum were recaptured by Ukrainian troops, who were advancing to the Liman. The New York Times noted that “the fall of the strategically important city of Izyum, in eastern Ukraine, is the most devastating blow to Russia since its humiliating retreat from Kiev.” When Ukrainian troops entered the towns of Balakliya and Izyum, they discovered numerous mass burial sites.
On September 12, the Defense Forces liberated the villages of Velykyi Burluk and Dvorichna, entered Svyatogorsk in the north of Donetsk region. The Armed Forces liberated almost the entire Kharkiv region, except for the strip behind the Oskil River. On September 13, the Ukrainian military established a bridgehead across the Oskil River near the village of Borova. By mid-September, Ukrainian troops broke through the Russian defense line along the Oskil River, and on September 17, the Armed Forces of Ukraine moved to the left bank of the Oskol. On September 18, the Armed Forces of Ukraine and the military governor of the Luhansk region Serhiy Gaidai confirmed in their Telegram channels that Ukraine had crossed and controlled the lyre the coast of Oskol. On September 30, Ukrainian troops liberated Yampil, a key village 8 km southeast of the estuary. According to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba, Ukraine's counterattacks prove that the Ukrainian military can end the war faster with more Western weapons.
Photographer Serhiy Korovaynyi documented life in Kharkiv region immediately after its liberation from the Russian military.
“Most of all, I remembered how much in the de-occupied villages and towns people were thirsty for ordinary things for Ukrainians — access to services, for example, Nova Poshta, to normal mobile communication, the Internet,” Serhiy Korovaynyi recalls. “In the points where the starlink worked, there were always a lot of people with phones — they called They told my family and it was very moving.”
Serhiy Korovaynyi documented the liberation of Kharkiv region together with the team of The Wall Street Journal.
“At that time, the fighting for the Estuary continued, the Kharkiv offensive was ending and I really wanted to go to the front. Nevertheless, the publication has already formed teams that shoot the military. In such a situation, you need to be a team player and focus on the tasks from the media. That's why I photographed humanitarian stories,” explains Serhiy Korovaynyi.
The photographer remembered the huge number of Russian flags that the occupiers brought to Kharkiv region.
“The Russian military everywhere painted their tricolor on the streets of cities. The flags were in the offices, in school classrooms, on the streets — it was as disgusting as possible, — says Sergey Korovaynyi. “We worked a lot in schools — my journalist colleague made material about how the Russians implemented their education. Their inscriptions remained on the boards, textbooks in the offices. It was very unpleasant to see it all.”
Serhiy Korovaynyy witnessed several times how Ukrainian military removed Russian flags from liberated settlements in Kharkiv region.
“I remember how the military repainted the sign of the city of Kupyansk on a Ukrainian motif and added an apostrophe in the name,” says the photographer. “A Ukrainian BMP was hit at the checkpoint near Kupyansk. People brought flowers there — and it was very moving as well.”
The photographer and his colleagues communicated with people who were in Russian captivity. Sergey adds that working in the liberated territories is at the same time joyful and very difficult, because local residents have experienced very difficult times.
“It seemed that for the people of the liberated Kharkiv region, everything bad was already behind. Instead, since then, I have come several more times and worked on stories from Izyum, Kupiansk and small villages to which the front came very close. People there still live in very difficult conditions, without light, water, in unfinished houses. We would very much like this suffering of people to end quickly,” says Serhiy Korovaynyi.
Serhiy Korovaynyi — Ukrainian documentary photographer, actively covering the events of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Collaborates with international publications, including the Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, The Guardian, Financaial Times and others. In his projects, he focuses on the topics of the Russian-Ukrainian war, ecology, and various aspects of Ukrainian modernity. He was educated in the United States in the Master's Program in Visual Storytelling as a Fulbright Program Fellow. In 2018, he joined The Gate, a leading Ukrainian photo agency. Sergey's works have been exhibited at numerous personal and collective exhibitions in Ukraine, the USA and the EU.
Photographer's social networks: Instagram, Facebook
The material was worked on:
Researcher of the topic, author of the text: Kateryna Moskalyuk
Bild-editor: Vyacheslav Ratynskyi
Literary Editor: Julia Futei
Site Manager: Vladislav Kuhar
The project is implemented thanks to support of The Foundation for Polish-German Cooperation.
UAPP is an independent association of professional Ukrainian photographers, designed to protect their interests, support, develop and promote Ukrainian photography as an important element of national culture.
UAPP's activities span educational, social, research and cultural initiatives, as well as book publishing.
UAPP represents Ukrainian professional photography in the international photographic community and is an official member of the Federation of European Photographers (FEP) — an international organization representing more than 50,000 professional photographers in Europe and other countries around the world.
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