by Sergiy Karazy Tom Balmforth
KYIV (Reuters) – The Russian army launched a ground offensive on Friday morning, with the reinforcement of armored vehicles, in the Ukrainian region of Kharkiv (north-east), advancing a kilometer near Vovchansk, a border town in the Russian region from Belgorod, reports the Ukrainian Defense Ministry.
The ministry reports fighting in several places in this region bordering Russia and indicates that it has sent reinforcements.
“Around 5 a.m., the enemy tried to break through our defense lines with armored vehicles,” he said. “At this time, these attacks have been repelled. Fighting of varying intensity continues.”
Authorities in the small border town of Vovchansk, which had a population of 17,000 before the war, said they were helping civilians evacuate the town due to Russian artillery shelling, which was supported by guided aerial bombs.
The governor of the Kharkiv region, Oleh Sinehoubov, reported on Telegram that two civilians had been killed. One in Vovtchansk, where five injuries were also reported, and another in a neighboring village.
Reacting to this offensive anticipated for months, President Volodimir Zelensky declared during a press conference in Kyiv that the Ukrainian army had prepared to repel it, while warning that Russia could decide to send reinforcements .
According to a Ukrainian military source, the Russian army aims to push back Kyiv’s forces up to ten kilometers from the border, after being driven from the Kharkiv region by a lightning Ukrainian counter-offensive in the summer. 2022.
F-16
Russia has repeatedly said it wants to create a “buffer zone” north of the city of Kharkiv, located around thirty kilometers from the border and a daily target of its bombings. Moscow says it wants to reduce Ukrainian strikes targeting Belgorod and prevent embarrassing incursions into its territory by Russian fighters rallied to Kyiv.
Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, was once again the target of a drone attack during the night from Thursday to Friday. According to Ukrainian authorities, the ten drones launched by Moscow were intercepted but two people were injured and several houses destroyed or damaged by a fire caused by falling debris.
According to the Ukrainian Air Force, Russia also fired two missiles towards the major city in northeastern Ukraine.
Oleh Sinehoubov clarified that the Russian attack had targeted both infrastructure and residential neighborhoods.
Under pressure for several months in the east of the country, the Ukrainian army is still awaiting the arrival of military aid promised by its European and American allies.
In addition to ammunition and anti-aircraft missiles that they urgently need, the Ukrainians are counting on the first deliveries of F-16 fighters to challenge the air supremacy of Russia, which is increasing bombardments using guided bombs to enable its troops to advance.
A Ukrainian military source said Friday he expected a first batch of the dozen or so American-made fighter planes promised by countries such as Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium to be delivered to Kyiv in June or July.
(Written by Sergiy Karazy and Tom Balmforth; French version Tangi Salaün, edited by Sophie Louet and Kate Entringer)
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