Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Russia seizes 5 Ukrainian villages
International observers call gains ‘tactically significant’
VOVCHANSK, Ukraine — Moscow’s forces captured five villages in a renewed ground assault in northeastern Ukraine, the Russian Defense Ministry said Saturday, and Associated Press journalists in the city of Vovchansk said multiple buildings were destroyed after Russian airstrikes and barrages of Grad rockets.
Ukrainian officials didn’t confirm whether Russia had taken the villages, which lie in a contested “gray zone” on the border of Ukraine’s Kharkiv region and Russia.
Ukrainian journalists reported that the villages of Borysivka, Ohirtseve, Pylna and Strilecha were taken by Russian troops on Friday. Russia said the village of Pletenivka was also taken.
In an evening statement Saturday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said fighting was still ongoing in the settlements of Strilecha and Pletenivka, as well as Krasne, Morokhovets, Oliinykove, Lukyantsi and Hatyshche.
“Our troops are carrying out counterattacks there for a second day, protecting Ukrainian territory,” he said.
The Institute for the Study of War said Friday that geolocated footage confirms at least one of the villages was seized. The Washington-based think tank described recent Russian gains as “tactically significant.”
The renewed assault on the region has forced more than 1,700 civilians residing in settlements near the fighting to flee, according to Ukrainian authorities. It comes after Russia stepped up attacks in March targeting energy infrastructure and settlements, which analysts predicted were a concerted effort by Moscow to shape conditions for an offensive.
On Saturday, Russia continued to pummel Vovchansk with airstrikes and Grad rockets as police and volunteers raced to evacuate residents. At least 20 people were evacuated to safety in a nearby village. Police said 900 people had been evacuated the previous day.
AP journalists who accompanied an evacuation team described empty streets with multiple buildings destroyed and others on fire. The road was littered with newly made craters and the city was covered in dust and shrapnel with the smell of gunpowder heavy in the air. Mushroom clouds of smoke rose across the skyline as Russian jets conducted multiple airstrikes.
The AP journalists witnessed nine air attacks during the three hours they were there.
On Telegram, Kharkiv regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said heavy fighting continued in the areas around Borysivka, Ohirtseve, Pylna and Oliinykove, but that the situation was under control and there was no threat of a ground assault on the city of Kharkiv.
In the meantime, artillery, mortar and aerial bombardments hit more than 30 different towns and villages in the region Saturday, killing at least three people and injuring five others, Syniehubov said.
Zelenskyy confirmed Friday evening that Russian forces were expanding their operations. He also called on the country’s Western allies to ensure that promised deliveries of military aid would swiftly reach the front lines.
“It is critical that partners support our warriors and Ukrainian resilience with timely deliveries. Truly timely ones,” he said in a video statement on X, formerly known as Twitter. “A package that truly helps is the actual delivery of weapons to Ukraine, rather than just the announcement of a package.”
The attack was launched from two areas in the Kharkiv region early Friday, Ukrainian officials and analysts said. Russian assault groups attempted to break through Ukrainian defensive lines in the city of Vovchansk and in the region north of the village of Lyptsi.
Separately, Ukrainian forces also launched a barrage of drones and missiles Friday night, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said, with air defense systems downing 21 rockets and 16 drones over Russia’s Belgorod, Kursk and Volgograd regions. One person died in a drone strike in the Belgorod region and another died in the Kursk region, local officials said.
Another strike set ablaze an oil depot in Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Luhansk region, killing four people and wounding eight more, Leonid Pasechnik, the region’s Moscow-installed leader, said Saturday on the messaging app Telegram.
There was also shelling in the Russian-occupied Donetsk region Saturday, where three people died when an explosion hit a local restaurant, said Denis Pushilin, the area’s Kremlin-appointed leader. Eight more people were wounded, including a child.