The Russian offensive is trying to break through the defenses at Kharkiv. The Ukrainian army is sending reinforcements there

Russian troops are trying to break through Ukrainian defenses in the border area in the north of the Kharkiv region. According to some sources, they have already advanced about a kilometer beyond the border, the Ukrainian army has sent reinforcements to the place. The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense stated this in a telegram, according to which it was possible to repulse the previous attacks, but the fighting continues. President Volodymyr Zelenskyi said that Ukrainian troops were prepared for a Russian ground attack in the area. Nevertheless, the Reuters agency writes that a new front has opened in Ukraine and Russian forces have achieved success, albeit limited, in their operation.

A Ukrainian military source told Reuters that Russian forces had advanced about a kilometer beyond the border. According to this agent, their goal is to create a buffer zone of up to ten kilometers.

Russia did not comment on the statements of the Ukrainian representatives.

“Ukrainian defense forces are defending our positions in the Kharkiv region. (The Russian army) attacked Vovchansk and its surroundings during today with the help of guided aerial bombs (KAB). At the beginning of the night, they intensified artillery fire on the front line,” the Ukrainian ministry announced.

The head of the Kharkiv administration, Oleh Synehubov, also previously stated that Russian forces concentrated their cross-border shelling on Vovchansk overnight. The city is less than ten kilometers from the Russian border and roughly 60 kilometers northeast of Kharkiv. Artillery fire and bombardment continued “all night”, while sabotage and reconnaissance groups of the Russian army tried “to break the border”, but without success, according to Synehubov.

“The armed forces of Ukraine are confidently holding their positions: they have not lost a meter. Enemy groups do not pose a threat to Kharkiv, their forces are only sufficient for provocations in the northern direction,” Synehubov wrote before the announcement by the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense.

“At the moment, the attacks have been repulsed, but fighting of varying intensity continues,” the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said in a statement, adding that it had sent backup units to the scene.

Today at a press conference in Kyiv, according to Reuters, Zelenskyi stated that the Ukrainian forces were prepared for the Russian onslaught on the northeastern border. But according to him, Moscow can send new soldiers to the area.

At the same time, the Ukrainian authorities helped with the evacuation of residents of Vovčansk and the surrounding area today due to the Russian attacks, according to Reuters, the local administration said.

Some pro-Russian military channels wrote on Telegram this morning that the Russian army had launched an offensive in the vicinity of Vovčansk. Some of them wrote about the “breakthrough” and “conquest of some populated areas,” writes the Russian-language BBC server.

This information cannot be independently verified.

Ukraine pushed Russian troops out of most of the Kharkiv region in a blitzkrieg offensive in the second half of 2022, just months after the start of a full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine. However, after last year’s lull on the battlefield, Russian forces have returned to the offensive and are slowly advancing in the more southerly Donetsk region.