Russia declared control of 5 villages in Kharkov 0
(Dan Tri) – One day after launching a strong attack on Kharkov, Russia announced control of 5 villages here.
Ukrainian firefighters put out a fire in an area in Kharkov after the Russian attack on May 10 (Photo: Reuters).
The Russian Ministry of Defense said on May 11 that the country’s army took control of 5 villages including Pletenivka, Ohirtseve, Borysivka, Pylna and Strilechna in Kharkov, close to the border with Russia.
The ministry also said that the Russian army had captured the village of Keramik in the Donetsk region, Eastern Ukraine, where Moscow has made slow but steady advances since capturing the stronghold of Avdiivka in February.
Kharkiv has now become a new hot spot in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
Kharkiv Governor Oleh Syniehubov said that Russian troops continued to attack this area and tried to advance further.
Ukraine has not commented on this statement, but spokesman for Ukraine’s Khortytsia Strategic Operations Group, Nazar Voloshyn, said that Russian forces are currently isolated in certain areas.
Russia took control of Kharkov right from the first days of the military campaign.
However, recently, Moscow has begun to increase its attacks on Kharkov, in an effort to turn it into a security buffer zone for Russia’s border regions.
In addition, according to analysts, Russia’s attack on Kharkov seems to be aimed at forcing Ukraine to withdraw troops from the Donbass battlefield, where Moscow aims to completely control Eastern Ukraine.
Ukrainian military officials believe that Russia has launched a new attack.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense also said that the country’s army had to mobilize reserve units to reinforce the defense line in the northern border area.
Faced with fierce fighting in Kharkov, more than 2,000 people here were evacuated.
A few hours after Russia launched its attack on Kharkov, the US announced a new military aid package worth $400 million to Ukraine.
The US Department of Defense pledged to deliver weapons to the Ukrainian army as quickly as possible, but did not specify which weapons would be prioritized for delivery.
White House Security Council spokesman John Kirby said that the US believes that Russian forces will increase their firepower and mobilize more troops, trying to establish a small buffer zone along the Ukrainian border, but Moscow is unlikely to achieve this step.
When asked in March whether Russian forces needed to seize the Kharkiv region, Russian President Vladimir Putin said that the only way to protect Russian territory from Ukrainian attacks was to create a buffer zone that would place
