Brian McDonald
Russia’s renewed ground offensive in northeastern Ukraine has targeted towns and villages with a hail of artillery and mortar shells, officials said Sunday. Thousands of civilians fled the Kharkiv region as the intense battle capitulated more land to Russian forces in less-defended settlements in the contested so-called “gray zone” along the Russian border.
The city of Vovchansk, with a pre-war population of 17,000, emerged as a focal point in the battle.
Volodymyr Tymoshko, head of Kharkiv regional police, said Russian forces were on the outskirts of the city and approaching from three directions. A Russian tank was spotted along a main road leading into the city, Tymoshko said, illustrating Moscow’s confidence in deploying heavy weaponry.
Evgeniy Maloletka/AP
Evacuation teams worked around the clock throughout the day to get residents, most of them elderly, out of harm’s way.
At least 4,000 civilians have fled the Kharkiv region since Friday, when Moscow forces launched the operation, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said in a statement on social media. Heavy fighting took place on Sunday along the northeastern front line, where Russian forces attacked 27 settlements in the past 24 hours, he said.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Sunday that its forces had captured four villages, in addition to five villages that were reportedly captured the day before.
These areas were probably poorly fortified due to dynamic fighting and constant heavy bombing, facilitating the Russian advance.
Ukraine’s leadership has not confirmed Moscow’s gains. Instead, they said he was repelling attacks and fighting for control of the settlements.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said stopping Russia’s offensive in the northeast was a priority and that Kiev’s troops were continuing counteroffensive operations in seven villages around the Kharkiv region.
“Disrupting Russian offensive intentions is our number one task now. The success of this task depends on every soldier, every sergeant, every officer,” Zelenskyy said.
A Ukrainian unit said it was forced to retreat in some areas.
Tymoshko said Russian tactics in Vovchansk mirrored those used in the battles for Bakhmut and Avdiivka in the Donetsk region, in which heavy air strikes were accompanied by multitudes of infantry attacks.
In a video on Saturday night, the Hostri Kartuzy unit, part of the Ukrainian national guard’s special forces detachment, said it was fighting for control of the village of Hlyboke.
“Today, during intense fighting, our defenders were forced to withdraw from some more of their positions, and today, another settlement came completely under Russian control. As of 20:00, fighting for the village of Hlyboke continues,” said the statement. fighters said in the clip.
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Analysts say the Russian initiative aims to exploit ammunition shortages before promised Western supplies can reach the front line.
On Sunday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken denounced Russia’s rush to Kharkiv, saying the United States is doing “everything we can to expedite this assistance.”
“I am convinced that Ukraine can effectively hold the line in the East, can continue to take advantage of the advantages achieved for itself in the Black Sea, where it is exiting both through the Black Sea, feeding the world as it did before the Russian reinvasion of Ukraine , as well as keeping Russian forces at risk, including in Crimea, to make it difficult to continue this aggression”, Blinken told “Face the Nation” features Margaret Brennan on Sunday. “We have provided the systems to do this, but it is a challenging time. We are not going anywhere, not more than about 50 countries that support Ukraine. This will continue and if [Russian President Vladimir] Putin thinks he can survive Ukraine, his supporters. He’s wrong.”
Meanwhile, a 10-story apartment block collapsed in the Russian city of Belgorod, near the border, killing at least two people and injuring 20 others. Russian authorities said the building collapsed after Ukrainian shelling. Ukraine has not commented on the incident.
