kyiv claims to have stopped the Russian assault in the Kharkiv region, after two weeks of fighting

After two weeks of fighting, “Ukrainian defense forces stopped Russian troops” And “carry out counter-offensive actions”, said Colonel Igor Prokhorenko, an official of the Ukrainian army general staff, on Friday May 24. Since May 10, Moscow has launched an offensive in the Kharkiv region from the border. The Russian army seized several localities and forced Ukraine to deploy valuable reinforcements in the area.

The Ukrainian serviceman described the situation as “difficult” but “stable and under control” in this region where clashes are taking place in particular for control of the city of Vovtchansk, cut in two and where kyiv has accused Russian forces of abuses. “The enemy is completely bogged down in street fighting in Vovchansk and has suffered very significant losses”assured General Oleksandr Syrsky, the commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian army, affirming that Moscow was sending “reserves” to continue his offensive.

President Volodymyr Zelensky, for his part, announced that he would be in Kharkiv on Friday for meetings on the “defense of the region”.“Our soldiers were able to regain the initiative in the fighting in the border area where the Russian occupiers entered”, he assured. The United States, for its part, announced on May 24 the sending of a new tranche of $275 million in arms to “help Ukraine repel Russia’s offensive near Kharkiv”. Regarding other sectors of the front, General Syrsky’s tone was more somber. In Donbass, the officer reported fierce clashes in the areas of Chassiv Iar, Pokrovsk and Kurakhové, where the Russians have been nibbling ground for months. Russian advances in recent days near Chassiv Yar seem to be increasing.