Russian units engaged in street fighting with the Kremlin’s forces in a significant town in northern Ukraine have halted the Russian advance, according to defense officials in Kyiv on Thursday, despite a senior Moscow official saying the front push had enough resources to continue.
Russian attempts to establish a foothold in the city of Vovchansk, which is among the largest cities in Ukraine´s northeastern Kharkiv area with a prewar population of 17, 000, “have been thwarted”, Ukraine´s public team said in a afternoon report.
It was impossible to independently verify the assertion.
Vovchansk, located just 5 kilometers ( 3 miles ) from the Russian border, has been a hotspot in the fighting in recent days. Late last week, Russia launched an offensive in the Kharkiv region, significantly amplifying the pressure on Ukraine’s outnumbered and underarmed forces, who are awaiting delayed deliveries of crucial weapons and ammunition from Western partners.
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Along the roughly 1, 000 kilometer ( 620 mile ) front line snaking from north to south through eastern Ukraine, Russia has also been testing defenses at other points. In what turned into a war of attrition, that line has hardly changed in the last 18 months. Recent Russian attacks have affected the eastern Donetsk region, the northern Zaporizhzhia region, and the Chernihiv and Sumy regions. The apparent goal is to exploit weaknesses and stretch exhausted Ukrainian resources.
Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, met with his top military commanders on Thursday in Kharkiv, saying that the area is “generally under control.” He acknowledged on social media that the situation was “extremely difficult” and that Ukraine was once more bolstering its forces in Kharkiv.
In his weekly video address on Wednesday, Zelenskyy stated,” We clearly see how the occupier is trying to distract our forces and make our combat work less concentrated.”
Ukrainian authorities have evacuated some 8, 000 civilians from Vovchansk. Prior to its units moving in, the Russian army’s typical strategy is to destroy towns and villages by launching aerial strikes.
Sergei Shoigu, a former Russian defense minister and current head of the presidential security council, asserted that the offensive is moving in many directions and that “it’s going quite well.”
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” I hope we will keep advancing. We have certain reserves for the purpose, in personnel, equipment and munitions”, he said in televised remarks.
According to the Institute for the Study of War, a think tank based in Washington, Russian forces attacking in Kharkiv have advanced no more than 8 kilometers ( 5 miles ) from the shared border.
It believes that Moscow’s main goal in Kharkiv is to establish a “buffer zone” to stop Ukrainian cross-border bombings of Russia’s neighboring Belgorod region.
U. S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, in a two- day visit to Kyiv this week, sought to reassure Ukraine of continuing American support. He made the announcement that a$ 2 billion arms deal would be signed, the majority of which would be funded by a month-long package.
Officials in Ukraine claim that their needs are urgent, and Western partners have pledged to make quick deliveries of military equipment.
Rob Bauer, the head of the NATO Military Committee, pleaded with senior officers from the 32-nation alliance on Thursday to send more weapons and ammunition to Ukraine, even if that means disobeying the rules governing weapons stock.
You should support Ukraine, he said at a meeting of senior defense officials in Brussels,” If you have to choose between meeting NATO capability targets and supporting Ukraine.” ” Stocks can and will be replenished. Lives lost are lost forever”.
Vladimir Putin, the president of Russia, made an official visit to Beijing in order to bolster ties with China.
Russia’s invasion of Ukraine was supported by China diplomatically, and it now has an important export market for Russian oil and gas. Russia has also turned to China for high-tech goods.
