On May 10, 2024, when Russia invaded Ukraine, Ukrainian volunteers assisted in the evacuation of residents of the northern settlements in the Kharkiv region.
Sergei Bobok | AFP | Getty Images
Russia said on Saturday its forces had captured five border villages in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, taking advantage of its growing dominance on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine and launching an offensive in the region on Friday.
The Russian Defense Ministry said in a briefing on Saturday that Russian troops had captured Pletenivka, Ohirtseve, Borysivka, Pylna and St. Villages such as Strilechna, all of which are located on the Russian border.
The briefing also said Russian forces had captured the village of Kramyk further south in the Donetsk region, where Moscow has been advancing slowly but steadily since seizing the long-time Ukrainian stronghold of Avdievka in February.
Ukrainian officials said on Friday that Russia has launched a new cross-border offensive in the Kharkiv region, centered on the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city.
Kharkiv governor Oleh Syniehubov said Russia continued its attacks on the Kharkiv region on Saturday and was trying to advance further.
Russian forces first attacked the Kharkiv region in February 2022, but were driven back from much of the province by a lightning-fast Ukrainian counteroffensive in September that year.
Since then, Russia’s neighboring Belgorod region has been regularly attacked by Ukrainian drones and artillery fire.
In March this year, when asked whether Russian troops needed to occupy the Kharkiv region, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the only way to ensure Russian territory against Ukrainian attacks was to establish a buffer zone to keep Moscow’s territory out of the range of Kiev’s troops .
Russia controls about 18% of Ukraine’s territory (east and south) and has been making steady gains since Kiev’s 2023 counteroffensive failed to make any significant gains against heavily defended Russian forces.
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