The start of a Russian acceleration on the front, so feared by kyiv? In any case, this is what is suggested the Ukrainian defense ministrywho announced this Friday, May 10, that Russia had launched a ground offensive in the Kharkiv region and attempted to “break through the Ukrainian defense lines,” while the fighting is still continuing.
“Over the past day, the enemy carried out airstrikes in the Vovchansk sector”, bordering the Russian region of Belgorod, with guided aerial bombs, the ministry said. These glide bombs, modernized large-caliber munitions, are particularly destructive and pose a real threat to Ukrainian defenses. Evacuations of civilians were ordered in this area, said a local official.
“Around 5 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 ministry assured that these attacks had been “repulsed” but that “fighting of various intensities” continued and that “reserve units” had been deployed to “reinforce the defense” of the area. For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke of a “fierce battle” against Russian troops.
Create a “buffer zone”
Located in northeastern Ukraine, the region whose capital is Kharkiv, the country’s second city, is 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 Kiev in the fall of 2022. Already A few days ago the governor of the Kharkiv region, Oleh Syniehubov, declared that Russia was grouping its forces north of the city of Kharkiv and that the authorities were “closely monitoring” the situation.
Moscow’s forces “have penetrated a kilometer into Ukrainian territory” and are trying to advance up to “ten kilometers”, a senior source in the Ukrainian military command said this 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.
“There is no threat as such”
In recent months, the Kharkiv region has been very often bombed, particularly its energy infrastructure. Ukraine has been worried and warning for several weeks of a potential new Russian offensive in the area. “The city (of Vovchansk) is currently under massive shelling. Residents have not seen such strikes before,” said the same Ukrainian source within the Ukrainian military command. According to him, the shooting has intensified since 3 a.m. in this city which has 3,000 inhabitants.
For his part, a spokesperson for the Khortytsi operational group, one of the main Ukrainian brigades of the Ukrainian counter-offensive last summer and active in the Kharkiv region, was keen to temper the Russian progression. “There is no threat as such. Why does everyone immediately think that there is a threat of a large-scale offensive? The defense forces, the armed forces and the various formations military are controlling the situation. There is no offensive,” he told Ukrainian media. Hromadske Radio.
The Ukrainian army is still struggling on the front, weakened by a lack of recruits and delays in the delivery of Western aid, which have emptied its ammunition stocks. And if Washington validated, at the end of April, an envelope of 61 billion dollars in aid, to the great relief of kyiv, 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 in particular advances in the area of Avdiïvka, a fortress town in the Donetsk region conquered in mid-February. The Russian army destroyed Ukrainian positions with 500 kg guided bombs dropped by planes, before artillery barrages then repeated assaults on armored transports with infantry, despite significant losses.