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Russian forces launched an armored ground attack on Friday near Kharkiv, the second city in Ukraine to the northeast, Dan Sabbagh and Andrew Roth report. There were also reports of fighting in the border villages of Strilecha, Pilna and Borisovka further westand that Russian forces have advanced about 1 km around the border town Vovchansk. Volodymyr Zelenskyi, the president of Ukraine, said from Kiev: “Russia has launched a new wave of counteroffensive actions in this area. Ukraine met them there with our troops, brigades and artillery… Now a fierce battle is being fought.” The Ukrainian army said it had deployed more troops and Zelensky said Ukrainian forces used artillery and drones against the Russian offensive.
The residents of Vovchansk were evacuated on Friday, Reuters reported from the area. “We’re leaving because we are dying from “russian world”,” said 60-year-old Valery Dubsky, referring to the Russian concept of expanding Russia’s influence beyond its borders. “It can go to hell with Putin and their authorities. They are our enemies. They tested all kinds of weapons on usexcept for the nuclear bomb.
Senior Ukrainian said a military source who declined to be named Russian forces sought to push Ukrainian troops up to 10 km (6.2 mi) as part of an effort to create a buffer zone, but defenders were trying to contain them.
At least two civilians were killed and five others injured during the heavy Russian shelling of border settlements, said Oleg Sinegubov, governor of Kharkiv region. “All the enemy can do is yes attack in certain small groupsyou can call them sabotage-intelligence groups or whatever, and test the positions of our army,” he said.
Late Friday, the U.S. announced a new A $400 million package of military aid, including missiles, surface-to-air missiles and armored vehicles. White House national security spokesman John Kirby said the aid is intended in part to help Ukraine repel the Russian attack on Kharkiv. “It is possible that Russia will make further progress in the coming weeks, but we do not expect major breakthroughs,” Kirby said. “And over time, the influx of US aid will allow Ukraine to withstand these attacks in 2024.”
Kirby said, “It’s certainly possible that the Russians are are preparing for a larger attack on Kharkiv,” adding that it is alarming that Russia appears to be preparing to brought long-range shooting capabilities within reach of Kharkiv. “You won’t do that if you don’t also think of another larger attack directly on the city.”
Ukrainian strike late Friday blew up an oil warehouse in the Russian-occupied Lugansk region and killed three people, Russian regime officials there said. Videos and photos of the burning Rovenki refinery were posted online by open-source bloggers and Telegram channels, as well as by Leonid Pasechnik, head of the defunct Luhansk People’s Republic.
A A Ukrainian drone attack set fire to an oil refinery in Russia’s Kaluga region, the state news agency RIA reported on Friday, citing emergency services sources. API reported that three containers with diesel fuel and one with fuel oil were caught in the fire at the First Plant refinery.
On Thursday, a Ukrainian attack drone set a record of flying 1,500 km (932 mi) to successfully hit an oil refinery 1,200 km (746 mi) away in Russia in Bashkortostan, a Ukrainian military source said. Ukraine’s internal security agency, the SBU, was blamed for the operation. The source said this proves that Ukraine has “powerful technological solutions that help deliver painful blows to the enemy. This means that Russian refineries and oil depots working in the service of the war machine cannot feel safe even in the deep rear.” The target was Gazprom’s Naftohim Salavat refinery, one of Russia’s largest.
Ukraine expects the first F-16 fighters to be delivered in June or Julya senior Ukrainian military source told Reuters.
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