San Francisco Chronicle

Russia grabs opportunit­y, opens new front

- By Samya Kullab and Illia Novikov

KYIV, Ukraine — Russian troops were locked in intense battles with Ukrainian soldiers around the embattled town of Vovchansk in northeast Ukraine on Monday, pushing ahead with a ground offensive that opened a new front and put more pressure on overstretc­hed Ukrainian forces.

Moscow’s renewed northeast offensive, launched late last week, was the most significan­t border incursion since the fullscale invasion began.

In just two days, Moscow has captured 38 to 47 square miles that include at least seven villages, most of them already depopulate­d, according to two open source monitoring analysts.

Vovchansk, among the largest towns in the area whose prewar population of 17,000 had dwindled to just 2,500 before Russia renewed its ground assault last week, has emerged as a key focus of the pitched battles engulfing the Kharkiv region. By Monday, only 200 to 300 residents remained, said Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov, as Russian forces closed in from three sides.

Poorly built fortificat­ions and long-term ammunition shortages enabled Russia’s sweeping advance in the area since Friday, local officials and soldiers said. The Kremlin’s forces were seeking to divert and distract Ukrainian troops across the 620-mile front line until a big batch of new military aid for Kyiv from the U.S. and European partners arrives on the battlefiel­d in the coming weeks and months, Ukrainian commanders and analysts said.

That makes this period a window of opportunit­y for Moscow and one of the most dangerous for Kyiv in the two-year war, they said. By intensifyi­ng offensive operations, Russia seeks to stretch Ukraine’s forces thin and forge breakthrou­ghs.

Russian forces claimed to have taken an additional 35 square miles, which has not been independen­tly confirmed.

Opening a new front from two points along the border with the Russian region of Belgorod was the easiest tactic to pin down and divert Ukrainian forces from heavy battles raging in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Russia’s most sought-after prize.

Small batches of U.S. military aid have started to trickle into the front line in the form of much needed artillery, said Yurii Federenko, commander of the Achilles battalion of the 92nd brigade, whose unit received some of the aid. But it will take at least two months before incoming supplies will meet Kyiv’s needs to hold the line, he said. Until they arrive, Ukraine won’t be able to seize the battlefiel­d initiative, he said.

“They now have an opportunit­y to attack us while we cannot properly reply,” he said.

The Kharkiv incursion has effectivel­y pinned Ukrainian forces in the region, while potentiall­y drawing precious reserves away from heavy battles in the Avdiivka and Chasiv Yar areas of the Donetsk region, where Russia’s advance has been far more significan­t and strategica­lly important.

If Ukraine isn’t able to halt Moscow’s advance, it could create conditions for a possible attack on Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city.

It could also create a “buffer zone” to protect Belgorod, where frequent Ukrainian attacks have embarrasse­d the Kremlin. In March, Russia announced plans to evacuate about 9,000 children from the Belgorod region because it was being shelled continuous­ly.

Yevgeny Poddubny, a usually well-connected military correspond­ent for Russia’s state TV corporatio­n VGTRK, said in a recent Telegram post that the Kharkiv assault marked the beginning of “a new phase.”

“We’re pushing the enemy back from the border, destroying the enemy in order to deprive the Kyiv regime of the opportunit­y to use relatively cheap rockets to attack Belgorod,” he said.

 ?? Evgeniy Maloletka/Associated Press ?? A Ukrainian soldier operates a suicide drone over Russian positions in the Kharkiv region Sunday as battles in the area rage.
Evgeniy Maloletka/Associated Press A Ukrainian soldier operates a suicide drone over Russian positions in the Kharkiv region Sunday as battles in the area rage.

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