Ukraine said Thursday that it was slowing down Russian military advances in the northeast of the country, where the situation remains “extremely difficult” according to President Volodymyr Zelensky, with Moscow having launched an offensive there which allowed it to garner its largest territorial gains since the end of 2022.
Ukrainian Interior Minister Igor Klymenko accused the Russian army of executions of civilians in the town of Vovchansk in the Kharkiv region, which has been facing an onslaught for a week by Russian troops who have conquered there, according to reports. AFP estimates, nearly 260 km2.
President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the city of Kharkiv, the regional capital and the country’s second city, on Thursday and gathered his military cabinet there.
“To date, the situation in the Kharkiv region is generally under control, our military is inflicting significant losses on the occupier,” Mr. Zelensky said. “But the area remains extremely difficult, which is why we are strengthening our units,” he added.
Minister Klymenko accused Russia of carrying out arbitrary detentions and executions of civilians in Vovchansk, a town of 18,000 inhabitants before the war.
“The Russian soldiers, who are trying to gain a foothold in the city, did not allow residents to evacuate: they began to kidnap people to take them to cellars,” he said, citing information on “first shooting executions of civilians” by the Russian army.
Stabilization in certain sectors
“A resident of Vovchansk tried to escape on foot, refusing to follow the invaders’ orders. He was killed by the Russians,” said the minister, who indicated that an investigation had been opened for “war crimes”.
AFP is unable to confirm these accusations from an independent source. Russia did not immediately react.
Russian forces have been accused of numerous documented abuses in Ukraine, in particular the massacre of hundreds of civilians in Bucha, a suburb of kyiv that they occupied at the start of their invasion in 2022.
Russia launched a new land offensive against the Kharkiv region last week, penetrating from the north into two border sectors, those of Vovchansk and Lukiantsi, a locality located around thirty kilometers from the city of Kharkiv.
Between May 9 and 15, the Russians conquered 257 km2 in the Kharkiv region alone, according to an AFP analysis on Thursday based on data provided by the American Institute for the Study of War (ISW).
In addition, 21 km2 were occupied in other areas of the front, according to the same source. In the south, Russia is notably demanding the resumption of the symbolic village of Robotyné, which kyiv denies.
Ukrainian forces admitted on Wednesday to retreating around Lukiantsi and Vovchansk to preserve the lives of soldiers, claiming on Thursday to have managed to stop Russian advances in “certain” sectors.
“Our defense forces managed to partially stabilize the situation, the enemy’s advance in certain areas and localities was stopped,” said the spokesperson for the Ukrainian forces in the region, Nazar Volochyn.
Civilian evacuations
According to regional governor Oleg Synegoubov, 8,779 people have been evacuated from this area in recent days. One person was killed and around fifteen others injured in various bombings.
In the city of Kharkiv on Thursday, people evacuated from Vovchansk continue to arrive at a humanitarian center.
Among them, Nadia Borodina, 85, wearing a traditional red scarf on her head, her dog Vassik on a leash and her cat Lucas, scared, in a plastic bag. She waited three days to be evacuated, with little food and no means of communication.
“The soldiers came and shouted ‘Let’s go, let’s go!’ and we left in five minutes,” the old lady told AFP. “I lived through the Second World War!” But today it’s even scarier! “.
The Russian assault exploits the weakening of Ukrainian forces in recent months, with kyiv lacking men, but also weapons and ammunition due to delays in Western military aid.
Russia, on the contrary, has recruited soldiers in droves and reoriented its economy towards the military industry.
Vladimir Putin, visiting China on Thursday, welcomed the advances of his army in Ukraine the day before during a meeting broadcast on television with high-ranking officers and his new Defense Minister, Andrei Beloussov.
“Since the beginning of the year, our troops have been constantly improving their positions in all directions every day,” he said.