Russia launches new ground assault in Ukraine's Kharkiv region
AP | May 10, 2024 10:48 AM EDT | Last Updated: 34 minutes agoUkraine rushed reinforcements to its northeastern Kharkiv region on Friday to hold off a Russian attempt to breach local defences, authorities said, signalling a tactical switch in the war, by Moscow, that Ukrainian officials had been expecting for weeks.
Kharkiv's regional governor, Oleh Syniehubov, said intense overnight shelling targeted Vovchansk, a city with a pre-war population of about 20,000 that is less than five kilometres from the Russian border. The barrage, which used powerful guided aerial bombs, artillery, rockets, tanks and mortars, killed at least one civilian and wounded five others, prompting authorities to begin evacuating about 3,000 people.
Then, around dawn, Russian infantry tried to penetrate Ukrainian defences near Vovchansk, the Ukrainian Defence Ministry said, adding that it had deployed reserve units to fend off the attack.
Russian military bloggers said the assault could mark the start of a Russian attempt to carve out a "buffer zone" that Russian President Vladimir Putin vowed to create earlier this year to halt frequent Ukrainian attacks on Belgorod and other Russian border regions.
By mid-afternoon, Ukrainian troops were still holding firm against the assault, Syniehubov said. . . .
https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/russia-ukraine-war-kharkiv-assault-1.7200096