Ukraine on Tuesday ordered the evacuation of 26 villages in the Kharkiv region, in the northeast of the country, due to repeated assaults by the Russian army in the area. “In view of the situation, we are implementing a compulsory evacuation of the population of the communities of Kindrachivska and Kourylivska in the Kupiansk district,” regional governor Oleg Sinegoubov said on social networks.
26 localities concerned
Its publication lists the names of the 26 localities concerned, where 3,043 people live, including 279 children. The Kupiansk district has been the subject of attacks by Russian forces for months. They have made minimal gains there, but still hope to break through the Ukrainian defenses. This entire area had been occupied by Russia at the start of the invasion ordered in February 2022 by Vladimir Putin, until a lightning attack by the Ukrainians liberated the region in September of the same year, forcing Moscow’s troops to a humiliating retreat.
Russia went on the offensive again in this area during the summer of 2023, while Ukraine attempted, without success, a major counter-offensive in the Donbass (east) and the south. Since the fall and the failure of Ukrainian ambitions for reconquest, Russian forces have been pushing to the northeast, in the Kupiansk area, and in the east, particularly around the town of Avdiïvka.
kyiv insists to its Western allies on its weapons needs
kyiv assures to hold and inflict significant losses on the Russians, but also insists to its Western allies on its needs in arms and ammunition to be able to continue to resist. The Kharkiv region, where Kupiansk is located, borders Russia and its eponymous capital is the second largest city in Ukraine. Moscow constantly bombs the area, including residential areas.
In October, a particularly deadly Russian strike killed more than fifty people in the village of Groza, while they were participating in a funeral ceremony in this town which had 330 inhabitants before the bombing.