2024-05-12 08:38:48
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his daily video address that stopping the Russian offensive near the northeastern city of Kharkiv is the “number one task” for the Ukrainian army at the moment, DPA and BTA reported.
“Achieving this task depends on every soldier, every sergeant, every officer,” the Ukrainian president added.
Russian troops have captured five Ukrainian border villages north of Kharkiv, the Russian Defense Ministry announced today, confirming unofficial Ukrainian information.
In its briefing today, the ministry said that Russian forces captured the villages of Krasne, Borisivka, Pilna and Strilecha, located about 30 km from Kharkiv, near the city of Liptsi, as well as the village of Ogirtseve, near the city of Vovchansk.
The Russian ministry also said Moscow’s forces had captured the village of Keramik in the Donetsk region.
The Russian army claims to have destroyed a large number of Ukrainian soldiers and military equipment in its offensive, which began on Thursday night. This information cannot be independently confirmed, the DPA points out.
In his video address, Zelensky mentioned the defensive operations near the villages of Strilecha, Krasne, Morokhovets, Oliniikove, Lukyantsi, Hatishche and Pletenivka.
“For two days now, our troops have been conducting counter-offensive actions there, defending the territory of Ukraine,” the Ukrainian president said.
Moscow said it captured 34 Ukrainian soldiers. The number of captives cannot be independently confirmed, but footage of some of them was published on Russian Telegram channels, DPA notes.
Ukrainian authorities said they had evacuated many local residents from the border areas. Ukraine had been expecting an attack near Kharkiv for some time. According to Kyiv, so far the defensive lines are holding up the pressure. Military experts do not believe that the Russian offensive is aimed at capturing Kharkiv, DPA points out.