Russia launched a land offensive this Friday, May 10 in the Kharkiv region (north-east) to “ break through the lines of defense » Ukrainians, announced the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. kyiv is evacuating residents from border regions.
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Russia, which has just launched a ground offensive in the Kharkiv border region, is seeking to create a “buffer zone” to prevent Ukraine to strike the Russian region of Belgorod, very regularly targeted, a source within the Ukrainian military command said on Friday. “ Around 5:00 a.m., the enemy attempted to break through our defense lines using armored vehicles”added this same source, without clarifying the exact location of this attack.
“ The enemy carried out airstrikes in the Vovchansk sector », bordering the Russian region of Belgorod, with guided aerial bombs, indicated for its part the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense. President Zelensky confirmed these fighting at midday.
Evacuations in border regions
Evacuations were launched in Vovchansk, where around 3,000 people live, and in neighboring towns in the Kharkiv region, due to “ massive bombings », indicated the head of the local military administration.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry assures that the Russian attacks were “ pushed back » but that “ fights of various intensities » continued and that “ reserve units » had been deployed for “ strengthen the defense » of the area.
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A large part of the Kharkiv region was occupied and then liberated in 2022. The border region and its capital of the same name, the country’s second city, have been very often bombed in recent months.
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Ukraine has been worried for several weeks about a potential new Russian offensive in the area. 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. Without Western aid in new anti-aircraft batteries, Ukraine is not able to protect either the front, the cities in the rear, or its strategic infrastructure, our correspondent Stéphane Siohan pointed out a few years ago. days.