Ukrainian forces ‘halt Russian advance in north-eastern town’

16 May 2024, 19:04

Russia Ukraine War
Russia Ukraine War. Picture: PA

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met his top military commanders in Kharkiv on Thursday and said the region ‘is generally under control’.

Ukrainian units locked in street battles with the Kremlin’s forces in a key north-eastern town have halted the Russian advance, military officials in Kyiv said.

However, a senior Moscow official said the frontline push had enough resources to keep going.

Russian attempts to establish a foothold in the town of Vovchansk, which is among the largest towns in the north-eastern Kharkiv region with a pre-war population of 17,000, “have been foiled”, Ukraine’s general staff said in a midday report.

It was not possible to independently verify the claim.

Russia Ukraine War
A Russian army attack damaged buildings in Kherson (Kherson Regional Military Administration via AP)

Six people were injured on Thursday in one Russian daylight attack on Vovchansk using cluster munitions, local officials said, as emergency workers and volunteers were rescuing people affected by shelling. Among the injured were two medics, he said.

Ukrainian authorities have evacuated some 8,000 civilians from the town. The Russian army’s usual tactic is to reduce towns and villages to ruins with aerial strikes before its units move in.

Vovchansk, located just three miles from the Russian border, has been a hotspot in the fighting in recent days.

Russia launched an offensive in the Kharkiv area late last week, significantly adding to the pressure on Ukraine’s outnumbered and outgunned forces which are waiting for delayed deliveries of crucial weapons and ammunition from western partners.

Russia has also been testing defences at other points along the roughly 620-mile front line snaking from north to south through eastern Ukraine.

That line has barely changed over the past 18 months in what has become a war of attrition.

Recent Russian attacks have come in the eastern Donetsk region, as well as the Chernihiv and Sumy regions in the north and in the southern Zaporizhzhia region. The apparent aim is to stretch depleted Ukrainian resources and exploit weaknesses.

Nato’s top military officer believes that Russia’s armed forces are incapable of any major advance.

“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 after a meeting of the organisation’s top military brass in Brussels.

“More to the point, they don’t have the skill and the capability to do it; to operate at the scale necessary to exploit any breakthrough to strategic advantage.”

Asked whether Russia might be about to launch its anticipated summer offensive early, Gen Cavoli said “we can never be sure”, but he added that “what we don’t see is large numbers of reserves being generated some place” which would be needed for any such offensive.

Ukraine has repeatedly tried to strike behind Russian lines, often using drones, though Russia’s response to the new technology used in unmanned vehicles has improved in recent months.

Russian naval aircraft on Thursday destroyed 11 Ukrainian sea drones heading towards annexed Crimea in the western Black Sea, Russia’s Defence Ministry said, according to state news agency TASS. Kyiv made no comment.

Volodymyr Zelensky
Volodymyr Zelensky said the Kharkiv region ‘is generally under control’ (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky met his top military commanders in Kharkiv on Thursday and said the region “is generally under control”.

However, he acknowledged on social media that the situation is “extremely difficult” and said Ukraine was again strengthening its units in Kharkiv.

“We clearly see how the occupier is trying to distract our forces and make our combat work less concentrated,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address on Wednesday.

Former Russian defence minister and now head of the presidential Security Council Sergei Shoigu insisted Russian troops are pushing the offensive in many directions and that “it’s going quite well”.

“I hope we will keep advancing. We have certain reserves for the purpose, in personnel, equipment and munitions,” he said in televised remarks.

The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, calculated that Russian forces attacking in Kharkiv have advanced no more than five miles from the shared border.

Russia Ukraine War US Blinken
Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited Kyiv (Courtney McBride/Pool via AP)

It reckons Moscow’s main aim in Kharkiv is to create a “buffer zone” that will prevent Ukrainian cross-border strikes on Russia’s neighbouring Belgorod region.

US secretary of state Antony Blinken, in a two-day visit to Kyiv this week, sought to reassure Ukraine of continuing American support. He announced a 2 billion dollar arms deal, with most of the money coming from a package approved last month.

Ukrainian officials say their needs are urgent and Western partners have vowed to expedite deliveries of military hardware.

Nato Military Committee chairman Rob Bauer urged senior officers from the 32-nation alliance to send more arms and ammunition to Ukraine, even if that means ignoring weapons stock guidelines.

“If faced with a choice between meeting the Nato capability targets or supporting Ukraine, you should support Ukraine,” he told a meeting of top defence brass in Brussels. “Stocks can and will be replenished. Lives lost are lost forever.”

By Press Association

Latest World News

See more Latest World News

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, shakes hands with U.S president-elect Donald Trump, left, before a bilateral meeting at the Elysee Palace, December 7, 2024 in Paris, France.

US wants Ukraine to hold elections after potential ceasefire with Russia, Trump envoy says

Trump says US airstrikes 'killed many' ISIS terrorists

'We will find you and we will kill you' - Trump says US airstrikes have 'killed many' ISIS terrorists hiding in caves

At least four people have died overnight as Russian drone and missile strikes continued to pound Ukraine's towns and cities, local officials said.

Russian drone and missile attacks in Ukraine kill 'at least four people' as Moscow's troops continue advance in Ukraine

US President Donald Trump speaks to the press on Friday

Trump launches trade war with China, Canada and Mexico, sparking fears for global economy

Rescuers expect to find the bodies of every DC plane crash victim

Every DC crash victim 'expected to be found', fire chief says, with plane fuselage to be hauled up from river

World champion figure skaters and their coaches, a civil rights lawyer, students and their parents, and a soon-to-be-married pilot were among those who lost their lives in the tragic crash on Wednesday.

'Our hearts are shattered' - World champion skaters, troops and students among victims of Washington DC plane crash

Yarden Bibas (L), Ofer Kalderon and Keith Siegel (R)

Hamas releases names of three more Israeli hostages set to be freed over weekend

Horrifying near-miss between passenger plane and helicopter just 24 hours before American Airlines crash killed 67

Horrifying near-miss between passenger plane and helicopter just 24 hours before American Airlines crash killed 67

Sting, Greenday, Billie Eilish and Stevie Wonder headline star-studded FireAid benefit concert for LA wildfire victims

Sting, Greenday, Billie Eilish and Stevie Wonder headline star-studded FireAid benefit concert for LA wildfire victims

Sting, Billie Eilish, Rod Stewart, Stevie Wonder and Lady Gaga are among the stars performing at a huge benefit concert in Los Angeles to help the area recover from recent devastating wildfires.

Lady Gaga and Rod Stewart pay tribute to LA fire victims at star-studded fundraiser concerts

Trump said on Thursday that the US will start imposing 25% tariffs on imports from Canada and Mexico from Saturday, which will likely have a dramatic impact on the economy.

Trump imposes 25% tariffs on Canada and Mexico from February 1 with China to follow, setting up trade war

The American Airlines flight collided with a military helicopter

Chilling air traffic control audio captures moment American Airlines flight collides with helicopter

Yevgenia Shishkova and Vadim Naumov

World champion skaters and members of US team were on American Airlines plane that crashed into Potomac River

Hamaad Raza

Heartbreaking final message man received from wife minutes before doomed American Airlines plane plummeted into river

Live
Part of the wreckage is seen as rescue boats search the waters of the Potomac River.

Washington plane crash LIVE: Air traffic control at airport was 'understaffed' on night of disaster

US-POLITICS-IMMIGRATION-LAW

Donald Trump announces plan to send 30,000 migrants to Guantanamo Bay