KYIV, Ukraine (AP) – Thousands more civilians are being evacuated from a new Russian ground offensive targeting towns and villages in northeastern Ukraine with a barrage of artillery and mortar fire, officials said. It was announced on Sunday.
Heavy fighting has forced at least one Ukrainian military unit to withdraw from the Kharkiv region, leaving more land in the hands of Russian forces beyond poorly defended settlements in the so-called disputed “gray zone” along Russia’s border. surrendered to.
Meanwhile, a 10-story apartment building collapsed in the Russian city of Belgorod near the border, with several casualties reported. Russian authorities said the building collapsed after being hit by Ukrainian military artillery fire. Ukraine has not commented on the incident.
At least 4,000 civilians have been evacuated from the Kharkov region since Friday, when Moscow’s forces launched the operation, Governor Oleh Sinyevov said in a social media statement. He said heavy fighting broke out along the northeastern front on Sunday, with Russian forces attacking 27 settlements in the past 24 hours.
Analysts say the Russian attack is aimed at taking advantage of ammunition shortages before promised Western supplies reach the front lines. Ukrainian soldiers said the Kremlin was following the usual Russian tactic of launching disproportionate amounts of artillery and infantry attacks to deplete troops and firepower.
This comes after Russia ramped up attacks targeting energy infrastructure and settlements in March, which analysts predicted was a coordinated effort on the Russian side to create the conditions for an attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said stopping Russian aggression in the region was a priority and Kiev forces continued counterattack operations in seven villages around the Kharkov region.
“Deterring Russia’s offensive intentions is our top priority now. Achieving that mission depends on every soldier, every sergeant, every officer,” Zelenskiy said. .
Russia launches ‘massive’ night missile attack on Ukrainehttps://t.co/MhFGPLSiti
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Russia’s Ministry of Defense announced on Saturday that Moscow’s forces had captured five villages on the border between Ukraine’s Kharkov region and Russia. These areas may have been poorly defended due to the dynamic fighting and constant heavy artillery bombardment, which facilitated the Russian advance.
Ukraine’s leadership does not recognize Moscow’s interests.
Ukrainian military units said they were forced to retreat in some areas and Russian forces captured at least one more village late Saturday.
In a video Saturday evening, Ostri Kartuzhi units, part of the Ukrainian National Guard special forces, said they were fighting to take control of the village of Hryboke.
“Today, heavy fighting took place, our garrisons were forced to retreat from several more positions, and today another settlement came completely under Russian control. As of 20:00, the village of Lybok The fighting continues,” the fighters said in the video.
The US-based Institute for the Study of War said on Saturday that it believed Moscow’s claims that it had captured Strylecha, Pirna, Pletenivka and Borsivika were accurate, and that geolocated footage showed Russian troops occupying Molokhovets and Olijnikove. He said that this seemed to indicate that it had been occupied. He said recent Russian advances were “tactically significant.”
Early in the war, Russia tried unsuccessfully to quickly storm Kharkov, but retreated from the outskirts after about a month. Seven months later, in the fall of 2022, Ukrainian forces drove them out of Kharkov. The bold counterattack helped convince Western powers that Ukraine could defeat Russia on the battlefield and was worthy of military support.
Photo: Ukrainian village destroyed by advancing Russian troopshttps://t.co/vMEMxnOl55
— Breitbart London (@BreitbartLondon) May 4, 2024
