Ukraine Troops Pull Back In Kharkiv After Russia Incursion
President Volodymyr Zelensky has cancelled all upcoming foreign trips as Ukrainian troops withdraw from several villages in the border region of Kharkiv following an incursion by Russian forces.
As reported by BBC, a Ukrainian military spokesman said soldiers had come under heavy fire in two areas of the northeastern region and moved to “more advantageous positions” language Ukraine has typically used to signify a retreat.
Russia has claimed that its forces have now taken control of two more settlements in the region – Lukyantski and Hlyboke – and the village of Robotyne, in the southern Zaporizhzhia region
Robotyne was one of a few settlements Kyiv retook in its summer counter-offensive last year.
A spokesman for the Ukrainian military said the decision to move troops from the Lukyantsi and Vovchansk areas was taken to “preserve the lives of our servicemen and avoid losses”.
The military spokesman also said that the situation “remains difficult” but asserted that Ukrainian forces were “not allowing the Russian occupiers to gain a foothold”.
Thousands of civilians have fled west in recent days towards Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv – including from the town of Vovchansk, located 74km away.
Oleksiy Kharkivskiy, Vovchansk’s police chief, said “The situation is extremely difficult. The enemy is taking positions on the streets of the town of Vovchansk”.
Russian troops made incursions into the Kharkiv region on Friday, and the attack is seen as one of Russia’s most significant ground attacks since it launched its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022.
On Wednesday, President Zelensky’s office said reinforcements have been sent to the wider Kharkiv region.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken announced an additional US$2 billion in military aid to the Ukrainian war effort while on a visit to Kyiv. He said:
We’re rushing ammunition, armoured vehicles, missiles, air defences to get them to the front lines.
We’ve been through challenging times together, I have every confidence that together we will get through these difficult moments.
It comes weeks after the US Congress passed a $61 billion aid package last month.
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