5 months ago
23
NEW DELHI: More than 1,700 people were evacuated from areas near the Russian border in Ukraine's Kharkiv as Moscow intensified its ground offensive and launched a massive assault at several settlements in
Kyiv's second-biggest city
.
"A total of 1,775 people have been evacuated," governor Oleg Synegubov wrote on social media, adding that there had been Russian artillery and mortar attacks on 30 settlements in the region over the past 24 hours.
Russia on Friday began a ground attack across the border into the northeastern Kharkiv region of Ukraine, with ongoing combat reported by the
Ukrainian defence ministry
and a senior military official.
Ukraine has claimed to have successfully repelled Russian forces from the majority of the Kharkiv region towards the end of 2022.
However, Moscow has resumed its offensive in that area as Kyiv's troops face challenges due to
ammunition shortages
.
"At approximately 5 am (0200 GMT), the enemy attempted to break through our defence line under the cover of armoured vehicles," the Ukrainian defence ministry said.
It said that it had repelled Russia's incursion but that "fighting of varying intensity" was ongoing and that Russia had launched massive air strikes into the bordering area.
A high-ranking Ukrainian military source said Russia had advanced into Ukraine by "one kilometre", and was trying to "create a buffer zone" to prevent attacks into Russian territory.
Kharkiv's regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said intense overnight shelling targeted Vovchansk, a city with a prewar population of about 20,000 that is less than 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Russian border. The barrage, which used powerful guided aerial bombs, artillery, rockets, tanks and mortars, killed at least one civilian and wounded five others, prompting authorities to begin evacuating about 3,000 people.
Around dawn, Russian infantry tried to push through Ukrainian defences near Vovchansk, the Ukrainian defence ministry said, adding that it had deployed reserve units to fend off the attack.
Russian military bloggers said the assault could mark the start of a Russian attempt to establish a "buffer zone" that President Vladimir Putin vowed to create earlier this year to halt frequent Ukrainian attacks on Belgorod and other Russian border regions.
(With agencies input)
