Russian forces are making “tactically significant gains” in areas of Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region where Kyiv likely has fewer defenses, according to a new assessment, after Moscow launched a push across the border on Friday.
“Russian forces are conducting relatively limited offensive operations along the Russian-Ukrainian border in northern Kharkiv Oblast and continued to make tactically significant gains in likely less defended areas,” the U.S. think tank, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said on Saturday.
On Friday, Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia had “tried to expand operations” against Ukrainian forces. Kyiv was quickly sending reinforcements to positions in the Kharkiv region, which borders Russia, the president said.
In its initial invasion in early 2022, Russia claimed swathes of territory in northeastern Ukraine, including parts of the Kharkiv region. In its counteroffensive later that year, Kyiv retook many parts of the Russian-held areas.
Anatolii Stepanov/AFP via Getty Images
On Saturday, Russia’s Defense Ministry said it had claimed a series of villages on the border, including the settlements of Borysivka, Ohirtseve and Pletenivka.
“The enemy is actively attacking our units in several directions with the aim of advancing deep into the territory of our state,” Ukraine’s army chief, Colonel General Oleksandr Syrskyi said on Sunday. “The units of the Defense Forces are fighting fierce defensive battles,” he said in a statement published on the Telegram messaging app.
“The proximity of Kharkiv City to the border magnifies the significance of limited Russian tactical gains,” the ISW said on Saturday. “Russian forces do not have to advance much further to begin threatening Kharkiv City with routine shelling.”
Kharkiv regional officials reported intensified shelling and attacks, including on the border city of Vovchansk, to the northeast of the city of Kharkiv. It is Ukraine’s second-largest city, and has borne the brunt of Russian strikes in recent weeks.
Ukraine’s Defense Ministry said on Friday that Russia launched guided aerial bombs toward Vovchansk, and had attempted to break through Ukraine’s defensive lines with armored vehicles at around 5 a.m. local time. Reserve forces have been sent toward the Kharkiv region, Kyiv added.
In recent months, Russia had focused the bulk of its efforts on Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, one of four in mainland Ukraine that Russia has annexed but does not fully control. Moscow captured the strategic Ukrainian city of Avdiivka in February, and has been moving westward in the months since. It has also pushed west of the captured Donetsk city of Bakhmut, which Russia has controlled for a year.
Uncommon Knowledge
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.
Newsweek is committed to challenging conventional wisdom and finding connections in the search for common ground.