Defence of Kharkiv ‘extremely difficult’ as Russia gains miles
Zelensky’s warning as Ukraine hit by heavy shelling
UKRAINE is struggling to defend the city of Kharkiv as Russian troops launch a fresh advance, officials said yesterday.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said the situation was “extremely difficult” as Vladimir Putin’s forces made their biggest gains in months.
Moscow has made inroads a few miles to the north of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, forcing outnumbered troops to try to hold the line on a new front.
Russia recently hit the region with an Iskander missile, and claimed to have destroyed a key command post.
Heavy shelling of Ukrainian positions near Vovchansk, three miles inside the border, was also reported.
President Zelensky visited wounded troops at a Kharkiv medical facility and said: “The direction remains extremely difficult. We are strengthening our units.”
The Ukrainian leader, who has cancelled his upcoming foreign trips, also met with his top commander and senior military leaders. Kharkiv governor Oleh Syniehubov said Russian forces were determined to capture the city.
He added: “While we cannot say that our soldiers have yet stabilised the front line, they have already stopped the active advance of the enemy in Kharkiv region.”
Ukraine’s troops are already fighting over a front line stretching more than 600 miles. Kyiv’s military said that its forces fighting near the town of Kupiansk, 50 miles south-east of Kharkiv, were pulling back to more “advantageous positions”.
Putin said Moscow’s forces were improving their positions “every day” along the front in Ukraine.
He said the Kharkiv offensive aims to create a buffer zone, and claimed he has no plans to capture the city. Speaking to reporters during a visit to China, he said Moscow launched the attack in response to shelling of Russia’s Belgorod region.
It is thought Russian forces have advanced more than six miles towards Kharkiv in recent weeks.
Kyiv has warned that Moscow may be preparing for a new major offensive in the coming months.
Kharkiv, 20 miles from the border with Russia, has been bombarded by air strikes. Around 9,000 civilians have been evacuated from the border area to escape the offensive.
Evacuated
Ukrainian officials said that Russian troops had taken up to 40 civilians captive, with four people dead and 12 injured in the latest advances so far.
It comes after Ukraine launched its biggest drone attack on Russian oil facilities this week.
Footage appeared to show a drone smashing into the Tuapse oil refinery in the south. No casualties were reported.