KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Ukrainian army units engaged in urban combat with Kremlin forces in a major city in northeastern Ukraine have halted a Russian advance, a military official in Kyiv claimed Thursday, but a senior Moscow official said Thursday Said the advance has enough resources to continue.
Russia’s attempt to establish a foothold in the city of Vovtyansk, one of the largest towns in northeastern Ukraine’s Kharkiv region with a pre-war population of 17,000 people, was “thwarted,” Ukraine’s General Staff reported midday. mentioned in.
We were unable to independently verify this claim.
Bovchansk, located just 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Russian border, has been the scene of heavy fighting in recent days. Russia launched an offensive in the Kharkiv region late last week, significantly increasing pressure on Ukraine’s outnumbered and outgunned military, which is awaiting delayed deliveries of critical weapons and ammunition from Western countries.
Ukraine in ‘intense’ fighting with Russia on eastern border, Zelenskiy sayshttps://t.co/bcxzn2KXZD
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Russia is also conducting defense tests at other points along a roughly 1,000-kilometre (620-mile) front that snakes from north to south through eastern Ukraine. Over the past 18 months, a war of attrition, little has changed. Recent Russian attacks have been carried out not only in the eastern Donetsk region, but also in the northern Chernihiv and Sumy regions, and the southern Zaporizhzhya region. The clear objective is to expand Ukraine’s depleted resources and exploit its weaknesses.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy met with top military commanders in Kharkiv on Thursday and said the region was “generally under control.” However, he acknowledged on social media that the situation was “extremely difficult” and said Ukraine was once again reinforcing its forces in Kharkiv.
“We can clearly see how the occupiers are trying to distract our troops and reduce the concentration of combat operations,” Zelenskiy said in a video address Wednesday night.
Ukrainian authorities evacuated approximately 8,000 civilians from Vovchansk. A common practice of the Russian military is to use airstrikes to reduce towns and villages to ruins before troops move in.
Sergei Shoigu, a former Russian defense minister and current chairman of the Presidential Security Council, insisted that Russian forces were carrying out attacks on multiple fronts and were “quite successful.”
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“I hope that we will continue to move forward. We have certain reserves for this purpose: personnel, equipment, ammunition,” he said in televised remarks.
The Institute for War Studies, a Washington-based think tank, estimated that Russian forces attacking Kharkov had advanced only 8 kilometers (5 miles) from their shared border.
Moscow’s main objective in Kharkov is believed to be to create a “buffer zone” to prevent Ukrainian cross-border attacks on the Belgorod region, which borders Russia.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Kyiv for two days this week and sought to reassure Ukraine of continued US support. He announced a $2 billion arms deal, with most of the money coming from a package approved last month.
Ukrainian officials say the need is urgent, and Western partners have pledged to speed up deliveries of military equipment.
NATO Military Committee Chairman Rob Bauer on Thursday told leaders of the 32-nation alliance to send more arms and ammunition to Ukraine, even if it means ignoring arms stockpiling guidelines. I requested that.
“If we have to choose between achieving NATO capability goals and supporting Ukraine, we should support Ukraine,” he told a meeting of defense leaders in Brussels. “Stocks can and will be replenished. Lives lost are lost forever.”
Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin made an official visit to Beijing, aiming to strengthen relations with China.
China has provided diplomatic support to Russia over its invasion of Ukraine, and is now an important export market for Russian oil and gas. Russia also relies on China for high-tech products.
