War in Ukraine: Russia has launched a ground offensive in the Kharkov region, Kiev residents are evacuating residents

Russia is making progress in Ukraine. This Friday, Moscow launched a ground offensive in the Kharkov region (northeast) and attempted to “break through Ukraine’s defense line,” the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense said, confirming that hostilities were continuing. “Over the past 24 hours, the enemy carried out airstrikes with guided bombs in the Volchansky area,” bordering the Belgorod region of the Russian Federation, the department reported.

Thus, Russia wants to create a “buffer zone” to prevent Ukraine from launching attacks on the Belgorod region, which, according to a source in the Ukrainian military command, is attacked very regularly. Evacuations also began in Volchansk, home to about 3,000 people, and in neighboring towns in the Kharkiv region due to “massive shelling,” said Tamaz Gambarashvili, head of the local military administration.

Clashes of “varying intensity” continue

“At about 5 o’clock in the morning the enemy tried to break through our defenses using armored vehicles,” the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense added, without specifying the exact location of the attack. He assured that they had been “repulsed” but that “battles of varying intensity” were continuing and that “reserve units” had been deployed to “strengthen the defense” of the area.

Most of the Kharkov region was occupied and then liberated in 2022. The border region and its capital of the same name, the country’s second city, have been bombed frequently in recent months. Ukraine has been concerned for weeks about a potential new Russian offensive in the area.

Moscow’s forces have “penetrated a kilometer deep into Ukrainian territory” and are trying to advance further, a senior source in the Ukrainian military command said at the same time. The Ukrainian army is struggling at the front, weakened by a lack of recruits and delays in the delivery of Western aid that have significantly depleted its ammunition reserves. In contrast, Russian forces have claimed limited territorial gains, mostly in the East, but have made no real breakthroughs.