Ukrainian soldiers are coming north and northeast of Kharkov, according to the head of the regional military administration of the city, while the Ukrainian counterattack, lasting several weeks, is intensifying.
Olech Shinekhubov told Ukrainian television on Tuesday that fighting was taking place northeast of Ukraine’s second largest city, Vovchansk. along the Russian-Ukrainian border.
The city has become a supply point for Russian forces as they try to maintain their offensive in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions further south. Interrupting this supply line could jeopardize the Russians’ ability to step up their attack on Slovyansk and Kramatorsk.
“Fighting is taking place in settlements north of the area,” Siniehubov said. “The enemy is focused on maintaining his positions. Our troops must repel (them) every inch of our territory.”
Shinehubov added that the Ukrainian advance had helped reduce – but not eliminate – Russian artillery attacks on Kharkov. There has been “relative silence for the past two weeks,” the Ukrainian official said. “However, the enemy sometimes strikes with artillery.”
“Two people have been killed and nine injured in the last 24 hours,” he said.
Siniehubov clarified that the Russian bombing continues in other areas of Kharkov.
At the same time, the British Ministry of Defense estimates that in the coming weeks Russia is likely to continue to rely on massive artillery strikes as it attempts to regain momentum in its advance into Donbass.
In its latest update, the ministry notes that in the Chernihiv region north of Kiev, the Russians destroyed or damaged 3,500 buildings during a failed attempt to advance into the Ukrainian capital. 80% of the damage there has been caused to residential buildings.
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