Ukraine: Russia launched a ground offensive in the Kharkiv region, according to kyiv
Russia launched a ground offensive in the Kharkiv region (north-east) on Friday and tried to “break through the Ukrainian defense lines”, announced the Ukrainian Defense Minister, affirming that the fighting was continuing.
Over the past day, the enemy carried out airstrikes in the Vovtchansk sector, bordering the Russian region of Belgorod, with guided aerial bombs, the minister said.
Evacuations of civilians were ordered in this area, said a local official.
Around 5:00 a.m., the enemy tried to break through our defense lines using armored vehicles, added the same Source, without clarifying the exact location of this attack.
The minister assured that these attacks had been repelled but that fighting of varying intensity continued and that reserve units had been deployed to strengthen the defense of the area.
Located in the north-east of Ukraine, the region of which Kharkiv, the country’s second city, is capital, remains a major objective for the Kremlin.
A significant part of the area was occupied by Moscow’s army at the start of its invasion more than two years ago, before being almost entirely liberated during a counter-offensive by kyiv in the fall of 2022.
“Moscow’s forces have gone one kilometer into Ukrainian territory and are trying to advance up to ten kilometers,” a senior Source in the Ukrainian military command said on Friday.
Russia is seeking to create a buffer zone to prevent Ukraine from striking the Russian region of Belgorod, which is very regularly targeted, she added.
Fears for several weeks
The Kharkiv region has been very often bombed in recent months, particularly its energy infrastructure, and Ukraine has been worried for several weeks about a potential new Russian offensive in the area.
The city (of Vovchansk) is currently under massive bombardment. Residents had not seen such strikes before, he told Ukrainian media Hromadske Radio.
According to him, the shooting has intensified since 3:00 a.m. in this city which has 3,000 inhabitants.
The Ukrainian army is struggling on the front, weakened by a lack of recruits and delays in the delivery of Western aid, which have notably emptied its ammunition stocks.
At the end of April, Washington approved a package of $61 billion in aid, to the great relief of kyiv, but it will be necessary to wait some time for this assistance to materialize on the battlefield.
Opposite, Russian forces claimed limited territorial gains, mainly in the east, at the cost of heavy human losses but without achieving any real breakthrough.
Russia, which benefits from more men, weapons and a more powerful defense industry, regained the initiative after the failure of the Ukrainian offensive in the summer of 2023.
Russian troops have made advances in particular in the Avdivka sector, a fortress town in the Donetsk region conquered in mid-February.
The Russian army annihilated Ukrainian positions with 500 kg guide bombs dropped by planes, before artillery barrages then repeated assaults by armored transports with infantry, despite significant losses.
