Reinforcements are holding back the Russian push on the new Kharkiv front. The invader’s lightning offensive north of Ukraine’s second largest city, which began on May 10, has been stopped after the first few days of rapid advance. Ukrainian soldiers fighting in the area confirm that battalions that were in reserve have been transferred there, but Morning Express has been able to confirm that units of at least two brigades that were fighting on the Donetsk front have also been transferred to Kharkiv.
The Russian stop would confirm the thesis of the intelligence services of the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense that the enemy’s objective is to create a new focus of fighting north of Kharkiv that will reduce troops in Donetsk. Moscow’s main goal, according to the main Western military analysis centers, is to conquer the municipality of Chasiv Yar and advance towards Prokovsk, both towns in Donetsk. In these two sectors, the intensity of the Russian push has also decreased, which could be explained, according to an officer of the Ukrainian 23rd Mechanized Brigade that until last week was fighting in Donetsk, because they are facilitating the General Staff to move more troops towards Kharkiv.
This newspaper was able to verify that Russian forces have retreated to the northern outskirts of Vovchansk, the main border municipality north of Kharkiv, largely also thanks to unusual Ukrainian artillery power. The Ukrainian Armed Forces suffer a serious shortage of ammunition, and are awaiting the arrival of larger quantities of American projectiles, but this shortage is not detected in Vovchansk. On the Russian side, the fire of their howitzers is destroying the city in proportions reminiscent of the Battle of Bakhmut in 2023 and which ended with its conquest by the occupiers and the city razed.
The Ukrainian president, Volodymyr Zelensky, visited the city of Kharkiv this Thursday to analyze the development of the fighting with his military commanders. The head of state has acknowledged that the situation is “extremely difficult”, but that it is “under control”. Although Russian pressure in Vovchansk or in neighboring Liptsi has been contained, the authorities are preparing for a new offensive by Kremlin troops in another sector of Kharkiv province, specifically on the border town of Kozacha Lopan. The evacuation of residents in this region already began on Wednesday.
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Zelensky this week canceled his international travel schedule, including an official visit to Spain, citing the need to remain in his country at this critical time. The president also met with the commander in chief of the Armed Forces, Oleksander Sirski, who on May 11 relieved the general at the head of the defense of the province of Kharkiv after the rapid Russian advance. The alleged lack of defensive fortifications in the region has been a special cause of controversy, due to military criticism on the ground, despite the fact that since the beginning of May there had been warnings of an imminent enemy advance from the Russian province of Belgorod. Morning Express has been able to observe that in the 20 kilometers from Vovchansk to the city of Kharkiv there are practically no new trenches built. The contrast is evident with respect to other regions, such as the neighboring province of Sumi, where Russia also threatens to open a new front, or in Zaporizhzhia, where there are new fortified and anti-armored defense lines.
The city of Kharkiv is also the main focus of attacks by the Russian air forces, which occur daily. Zelensky this week demanded from US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that his government provide them with at least two new Patriot air defense batteries to protect Kharkiv. The Ukrainian General Staff has reported that it is precisely the lack of anti-aircraft systems that is allowing the intense use of bombing by Russian aviation on this front.
This newspaper also found that the Russian army is consciously using cluster munitions, which are especially lethal in urban areas with a civilian population. The sound of explosions from this ammunition are recurrent on the Vovchansk front. Near this municipality, a care center for evacuees from the town – fewer than 300 inhabitants remain – was attacked on Wednesday by a cluster bomb, wounding five people, including mayor Tamaz Gambarashvili. The special envoy of this newspaper was at the scene a few hours before the attack. The place already had to be urgently abandoned on Wednesday after the Ukrainian intelligence services warned that they had intercepted a military message from the invader transmitting the coordinates of the site to be attacked. In the two days of work in the area, Morning Express has collected the testimony of at least three convoys of evacuees attacked by Russian drones.
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