Ukraine: Kyiv partially halts Russian offensive in Kharkiv – DW – 05/17/2024

Ukrainian military officials on Thursday said their units have managed to partially halt Russian forces in the northeastern Kharkiv region, though a Moscow official claimed they would continue to keep going.

“Our task at the moment is to stabilize the front line,” said Kharkiv Governor Oleg Synegubov. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said reinforcements had been sent to the area.

Zelenskyy met military leaders in Kharkiv city to assess the situation.

Ukraine’s general staff said the Russian attempt to capture the town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv (5 kilometers, 3.1 miles from the Russian border) “have been foiled.” Six people, including two medics, were injured by Russian cluster munitions during the day on Thursday.

Ukraine also accused Russia of executing citizens in the territory and of using some of them as a “human shield.”

Around 8,000 people have evacuated from Vovchansk, which had a pre-war population of 17,000. This town has been the key fighting point since Russia launched an offensive on Kharkiv last week. Ukraine’s forces have been outnumbered as they wait for weapons and ammunition from Western allies.

Moscow captured 278 square kilometers (107 square miles) of Ukrainian territory between May 9 and May 15, according to AFP news agency calculations based on data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

However, the NATO military alliance said it does not believe Moscow will be able to make any major advances.

“The Russians don’t have the numbers necessary to do a strategic breakthrough, we don’t believe,” US General Christopher Cavoli, NATO’s supreme allied commander Europe, told reporters.

Ukraine battles Russian offensive in northeast

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tg/sms (AP, AFP, DPA, Reuters)