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full screen Police evacuate residents of villages near the city of Vovtyansk, which are under heavy Russian shelling. Picture from last Saturday. Photo: Andrii Marienko/AP/TT
Russia’s offensive in the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine is an attempt to thin the Ukrainian defense across several front lines, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warns.
Fierce fighting is taking place in several places in the border area north of the Ukrainian city of Kharkiv, where Russian forces launched an offensive on Friday that means a new front line in the war of aggression has been opened.
At the same time, intense fighting continues in the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine, Zelenskyy emphasizes in his evening speech on Sunday.
– In fact, the idea behind the attacks in the Kharkiv region is to spread and thin our forces and undermine the moral and motivational basis of Ukrainians’ ability to defend themselves, he says.
Russian attacks are ongoing against several border communities in the Kharkiv region.
– The occupier is trying to gain a foothold in some of them, or simply use some of them for further advancement, says Zelenskyj.
– Especially on the outskirts of Vovtjansk, the situation is extremely difficult. The city is under constant Russian shelling, and our military is carrying out counterattacks and helping local residents, Zelenskyy said.
Close to 6,000 residents have been evacuated from the border area, according to the governor of the Kharkiv region.
Ukraine’s chief of defense Oleksandr Syrskyi describes the situation along the front line as rapidly changing, where Russia is partially making progress but where Ukraine is also pushing back in several directions.