According to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, his army has now regained control of the border area in eastern Kharkiv. “Our fighters have now managed to take combat control of the border area where the Russian aggressors invaded,” Zelensky said after a visit to Kharkiv on Friday. This information could not be confirmed at first.
Kharkiv, which borders Russia, is one of the hardest-hit areas in Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine, which has now lasted more than two years. Two weeks ago, Russian forces launched a ground offensive along the border and occupied several Ukrainian villages.
Moscow’s troops “completely disorganized”
Ukrainian army chief Oleksandr Chirsky said Russian military advances in the region in northeastern Ukraine had stalled. In the street fighting around the border town of Vovsansk, the troops from Moscow “were completely lost and suffered very high losses in the offensive units,” Chirskyj explained on online networks.
Russia is currently trying to capture the city with “reserves from various regions” – but without success, he added. Vovchansk, about five kilometers from the Russian border, is at the center of a ground offensive launched by Russia in northeastern Ukraine two weeks ago. Russian troops have made major gains on land since the end of 2022.
A Russian agency reports success
On the other hand, the Russian news agency TASS reported a military victory and said that more than half of the Vovchansk region had been captured. Following the capture of Vovchansk, the cities of Slavyansk, Kramatorsk and Pokrovsk will be Russia’s next big targets, TASS quoted Russian MP Viktor Vodolatsky as saying. Information provided by both parties could not be independently verified initially.
11,000 people had to leave
More than 11,000 people in the area had to flee their homes and settlements as a result of the fighting, according to regional governor Ole Sinekupo. Seven people were killed in Russian attacks in the city of Kharkiv on Thursday, according to officials. According to officials, a woman was injured in a Russian bomb explosion on Friday.
The Ukrainian state railway company on Friday reported another series of Russian attacks on railway infrastructure around Kharkiv. It is said that rails, wagons and buildings were damaged. “The enemy continues to make targeted efforts to stop the railway in the Kharkiv region,” the company reported on the Telegram online service.
Ukraine recruits prisoners
In Ukraine, shortages of recruits and combat-hardened soldiers are increasingly noticed. To make up for this shortfall, prisoners can now also enlist in the military.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian armed forces are coming under heavy pressure on the Donbass front in the east of the country, according to Chief of Army Staff Sirskiji. He said the fighting near the towns of Chasiv Yar, Pokrovsk and Kurakov was particularly “intense”. According to Moscow’s own reports, it has made several advances in the past two weeks.
Ukrainian rocket attack on Crimea
At least two people have been killed in Ukrainian attacks in Moscow-annexed Crimea, according to Russian reports. On Friday night, the area around the city of Simferopol was hit by rockets, Crimea Governor Sergei Aksyonov said in a telegram. On social networks, residents also reported the sounds of explosions from areas near the Crimean cities of Alushta and Yalta.
NATO wants to build a “drone wall”.
Six NATO member states bordering Russia want to build a “drone wall” against “provocations,” according to Lithuania. The purpose of the wall “from Norway to Poland” is to “use drones and other technologies to protect our borders,” Lithuanian Interior Minister Agne Philotide told PNS news agency on Friday in discussions with colleagues from Estonia, Latvia and Finland. Poland.
Bilotaite said the plan was to prevent “provocations by unfriendly countries” and combat trafficking. In addition to drones to monitor borders, anti-drone systems will also be used. The Home Minister spoke of a “completely new thing”. She did not give a timetable for the project. Security concerns are the background for strengthening the border as a result of Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine.
