Russian attack on Kharkiv continues as Moscow says it has taken five villages
Fierce fighting has continued for a second day on the fringes ofthe Kharkiv region in north-east Ukraine. Moscow said it had captured five villages, while Kyiv said it was pushing back against the attacks and battling for control of the territory.
Russia launched the armoured incursion early on Friday, in an attack that may presage a broader push into the Kharkiv region, or aim to draw away overstretched Ukrainian forces in the east where Moscow’s offensive is focused.
Kyiv has been on the back foot for months as Russian troops have slowly advanced, mainly in the Donetsk region to the south, taking advantage of Ukraine’s shortages of troops and artillery shells.
The Russian defence ministry told a briefing that Moscow’s forces had taken the Kharkiv region villages of Pletenivka, Ohirtseve, Borysivka, Pylna and Strilecha across the border from Russia’s Belgorod region.
Kharkiv’s governor, Oleh Syniehubov, however, said on Saturday that active fighting continued in all five of the frontier villages located within 3km to 5km of the border.
He said: “We clearly understand what forces the enemy is using in the north of our territory. Certainly, the escalation can grow, the pressure can increase, it can strengthen its military units, its military presence.”
He said there was no imminent danger to the regional capital, Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, and no need to begin evacuating its roughly 1.3 million inhabitants who continue to live there despite regular missile and drone strikes.
Syniehubov said: “As of now the enemy keeps pressing in the north of our region. Our forces have repelled nine attacks.”
Kyiv rushed in reinforcements to deal with the incursion and Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesperson for Ukraine’s eastern command, said on Saturday that Kyiv’s forces had managed to contain Russian troops in the borderlands where it is unclear who has control.
He said: “The enemy is localised in the ‘grey zone’, it is not expanding. However, there is the question of finally destroying it and catching it in the tree lines where it could hide.”
Russian forces first attacked the Kharkiv region in February 2022 during the start of the invasion, but were routed from most of the province by a Ukrainian counter-offensive in September of that year.
Russia’s neighbouring Belgorod region has since come under regular Ukrainian drone and artillery strikes and the Russian president, Vladimir Putin, suggested in March that Moscow could try to establish a buffer zone inside Ukrainian territory.
Kyiv officials have repeatedly said they do not believe Russia has the forces available to capture the city of Kharkiv.
Syniehubov said authorities had evacuated more than 2,500 people from the frontier area and that the effort continued.
In a statement, Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, urged Kyiv’s western allies to speed up the supply of promised weapons.
He said: “It is important that partners support our soldiers and Ukrainian stability with timely supplies. Really timely. The package that really helps is the weapons brought to Ukraine, not just the ones announced.”