World Courant
Kiev, Ukraine — Ukrainian forces have secured “fight management” of areas the place Russian troops entered the northeastern Kharkiv area earlier this month, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned.
“Our troopers have now managed to take management of the border space the place the Russian occupiers entered,” Zelenskyy mentioned in his nightly video deal with on Friday night.
Zelensky’s feedback appeared to contradict these of Russian officers.
Viktor Vodolatskiy, a member of Russia’s parliament, mentioned Russian forces now management greater than half of town of Vovchansk, 5 kilometers contained in the border, Russia’s state information company Tass reported on Friday.
Vovchansk has been a focus of combating since Russia launched an offensive within the Kharkiv area on Could 10.
Vodolatskiy additionally mentioned that after Vovchansk was secured, Russian forces would assault the cities of Sloviansk, Kramatorsk and Pokrovsk within the neighboring Donetsk area.
Unbiased affirmation of the claims was not instantly attainable.
The Russian assault on Kharkov seems to be a coordinated new offensive that can embrace testing Ukrainian defenses within the Donetsk area additional south, whereas additionally launching raids within the northern areas of Sumy and Chernihiv. Russian President Vladimir Putin has mentioned the Kremlin navy is attempting to create a “buffer zone” within the Kharkiv area to stop Ukrainian cross-border assaults.
The town of Kharkiv, the capital of the area of the identical title, is situated about 20 kilometers from the Russian border. Moscow’s forces have captured villages within the space in current weeks as a part of a broad assault, and analysts say they could be attempting to get inside artillery vary of town. Ukrainian authorities have evacuated greater than 11,000 folks from the area for the reason that offensive started.
The Russian assault is shaping as much as be the most important take a look at for Ukraine since Moscow’s full-scale invasion in February 2022, placing outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian forces at a number of factors alongside the roughly 1,000-kilometer frontline that extends from the north to the north winds. south in jap Ukraine.
Ukraine’s issues have elevated in current months because the nation tries to carry its floor in opposition to its a lot greater enemy, and the warfare seems to be at a crucial juncture.
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Morton reported from London.
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Comply with AP’s protection of the warfare in Ukraine
