Hundreds flee as Russian troops close in on Ukraine’s second largest city

Hundreds of people have fled regions close to the Russian border in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region following the launch of Moscow’s ground operation to capture the region.

Kharkiv governor Oleg Synegubov announced on Saturday that there had been Russian artillery and mortar attacks on 30 settlements in the region over the past 24 hours.

“A total of 1,775 people have been evacuated,” Synegubov wrote on social media.

According to a high-ranking Ukrainian military official, Russian forces have made progress by one kilometer into Ukraine and are currently attempting to establish a “buffer zone” in the Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, and nearby Sumy regions. This strategic move aims to safeguard Russian territory from potential attacks.

On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky declared that a “fierce battle” was taking place in the region.

“We must disrupt Russian offensive operations and return the initiative to Ukraine,” Zelensky said on Saturday.

Since September 2022, the majority of the Kharkiv region has been under Ukrainian jurisdiction.

The Ukrainian military has increased its offensive operations in both Russian territory and areas controlled by Russia in Ukraine, focusing heavily on targeting energy facilities.

Moscow-backed officials in the Russian-controlled Lugansk region of eastern Ukraine said on Saturday that three people had lost their lives due to a Ukrainian attack using missiles manufactured in the United States on an oil storage facility.

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Governor Leonid Pasechnik said the strike “enveloped the oil depot in fire and damaged surrounding homes.”

Authorities in Kiev had been cautioning for weeks about the possibility of Moscow launching a retaliatory attack on its northeastern border areas, making use of Ukraine’s challenges with Western aid delays and a lack of manpower.

According to a US-based institute for the study of war, Russia had made “tactically significant gains.”

Following Russia’s ground attack on Friday, the White House announced that after the approval of a $95 billion bill by lawmakers, the US is preparing to offer Ukraine a military aid package valued at $400 million, hence resuming its customary practice of supplying weapons to Kiev.

An anonymous US official who spoke to Reuters said that the Ukraine aid package comprised of artillery, munitions for NASAMS air defenses, anti-tank munitions, armored vehicles, and small arms. These resources can be promptly utilized on the battlefield.

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