Updated 00.58 | Published 00.10
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full screen 11-year-old Khrystyna hugs her mother Oksana, 42. Both have been evacuated from the city of Vovtyansk, which lies northeast of Kharkiv. Photo: AP
Recently, there have been reports of heavy fighting in the Kharkiv region of Ukraine.
But now comes information that Russian troops met very little resistance.
– There was no defense line, says Denys Yaroslavsky of the Ukrainian military to the BBC
Around the clock, the Russians are firing artillery at the Kharkiv region in northeastern Ukraine, and fierce battles are raging in several places.
Earlier it was reported that Russian forces faced stiff resistance, but now comes new information.
The BBC has met Denys Yaroslavsky who commands a Ukrainian intelligence unit in Kharkiv. He testifies that in several places there were no defense lines at all.
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full screen The Russian army is on the offensive near the big city of Kharkiv. Photo: AP
“The Russians just walked in”
Several Russian units reportedly crossed the border and were able to advance several kilometers into Ukraine.
In eastern Ukraine, it has taken months for the Russians to reach as far.
Denys Yaroslavskij wonders what happened to Ukraine’s defense lines in the Kharkiv region.
– There was no line of defense. We saw it ourselves. The Russians just walked in, he tells the BBC.
Yaroslavsky shows a video to the BBC reporter. On the video, which was recorded from a drone a few days ago, Russian soldiers are seen crossing the border.
He is critical and claims that most people knew that the offensive against the Kharkiv region would be carried out.
The intelligence services in Ukraine and in other countries have recently received information about increased Russian activity and mobilization at the border.
Around 30,000 Russian soldiers are said to have been mobilized.
President Putin also reportedly said that he aimed to create a zone on the border to protect Russian cities and villages from Ukrainian artillery shelling.
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Buses have been deployed to help residents in the area escape.
1 / 2Photo: AP
Drone attacks
People are now fleeing the Kharkivegion. Over 4,000 people have been evacuated. The news agency AFP has interviewed a police chief in the city of Vovtjansk.
In the past 24 hours, 32 drone attacks have been directed at Vovtjansk in particular.
In an update on Telegram, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi describes the situation in the Kharkiv region as rapidly changing, where Russia is partially making progress but where Ukraine is also pushing back in several directions.
“This week, the situation in the Kharkiv region has worsened significantly. Currently, fighting is going on in the border areas along the state border with the Russian Federation,” writes Syrskyj.
This is reported by TT.
Russia claimed control of five villages in the region on Saturday. On Sunday, the Ministry of Defense in Moscow stated that it had taken control of four more villages in Kharkiv, writes AFP.
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Many elderly people are helped to leave the war zone.
1 / 2Photo: AP