While Vladimir Putin welcomed the Russian war captures in the Kharkiv oblast the day before, kyiv indicated this Thursday, May 16, that it had stopped the Russian “advance” in certain areas of the northeastern region of Ukraine. .
On May 10, Russia launched a surprise attack in the region, leading to the occupation of new territories. This attack across the border, from the north, took Ukrainian forces by surprise, weakened by a lack of weapons and men after more than two years of war and months of delay in Western aid.
Information to remember
⇒ Ukraine claims to have stopped Russian advance
⇒ Russian army “continues to accumulate forces” in Kharkiv Oblast
⇒ Vladimir Putin thanks his Chinese counterpart
Russian advance stopped according to kyiv
The Ukrainian army indicated Thursday morning that it had stopped the Russian “advance” in certain areas of the Kharkiv region (north-east) where Russia launched a surprise attack on May 10, occupying new territories.
Although “the situation in the Kharkiv sector remains complicated […] our defense forces have managed to partially stabilize the situation”, indicated the spokesperson for the Ukrainian forces in the region, Nazar Volochyn, who assured him: “the advance of the enemy in certain areas and localities has been stopped” .
Same story from the popular Ukrainian military blogger Youry Boutoussov, followed by half a million people: “the Russian offensive in the north of the Kharkiv region has been de facto stopped”. And clarified a few hours later on Facebook: “The Russian assault groups have suffered losses, but have not yet been destroyed, and the fighting continues.”
The Russian army is advancing in certain places
The fact remains that in certain localities, the Russian army “continues to accumulate forces” admits the blogger. This is the case in Vovtchansk, a town of 19,000 inhabitants located about sixty kilometers north of Kharkiv. According to regional governor Oleg Synegoubov, some 8,779 people had been evacuated in the region. Around fifteen people were also injured in various bombings in the region.
It must be said that in just one week, the Russian army managed to gain some 278 kilometers in eastern Ukraine. And since the start of 2024, Russia has conquered around 800 km2, more than in the whole of 2023 (600 km2). According to an analysis Thursday by AFP based on data provided by the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW), its gain of Ukrainian territory is the most significant in a year and a half.
Although the figures may seem impressive, they still need to be put into perspective. And for good reason, the total advance represents less than 1% of the Ukrainian territory currently controlled by Moscow. These captures are therefore out of proportion with the regions conquered by the Russian army at the start of the invasion in February and March 2022.
A conflict made invisible by the war in the Middle East
The Russian offensive in the Kharkiv region must, however, serve as a “wake-up call” for Ukraine’s allies, British Defense Minister Grant Shapps said on Wednesday, regretting that the West had been “distracted” by other conflicts.
“This is not a war in which you can afford to be fully attentive, then turn away or get distracted by another conflict, and then expect nothing to change on the ground. “, said Grant Shapps on the Sky News channel. And he insisted: “We must support (the Ukrainians) all the time, and not just periodically,” he insisted, without however mentioning by name the conflict in Gaza between Israel and Hamas, which has monopolized Western and regional diplomacy since on October 7.
Vladimir Putin, “grateful” to Beijing
At a press conference in Beijing alongside Chinese leader Xi Jinping, the Russian president said he was “grateful […] for the initiatives” aimed at putting an end to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict implemented by China. Country appearing among those which have never condemned the Russian invasion in Ukraine.
Moscow says it is open to talks with Ukraine to end the war, but insists kyiv must accept the situation on the ground, namely Russia’s demand for annexation of the Donetsk, Kherson regions , Lugansk and Zaporizhzhia.
At the same time, Vladimir Putin took advantage of his official visit to China to inflict a blow on the security alliances led by the West in the Indo-Pacific region, which he describes as “very harmful” and “counterproductive”.