Russian forces launched a new cross-border offensive into northeastern Ukraine early on Friday, Kyiv has announced, in what may mark the beginning of a new major operation imperilling the country’s second-largest city of Kharkiv.
The Ukrainian Defense Ministry said the attack was repelled, but that “battles of varying intensity” are ongoing at several points along the border with reserves deployed.
“The defense forces of Ukraine continue to hold back the enemy’s offensive,” the ministry wrote on Telegram.
The assault was preceded by a series of airstrikes and increased artillery fire, the ministry reported, before an “attempt by the enemy to break through our defense line under the cover of armored vehicles” at around 5 a.m. local time.
The effort was focused on the area around the border town of Vovchan, the ministry said, which sits some 30 miles northeast of Kharkiv. The pro-Kyiv DeepState Telegram channel—which maps battlefield developments—said Russian forces are “trying to enter and gain a foothold in a number of settlements along the border.”
“The available resources used by the enemy at the moment will not be enough for a deep advance,” DeepState wrote. “Currently, the situation is such that the enemy is destabilizing the border areas. But it is not known how many main forces he is ready to use for this maneuver.”
This is a breaking news story and will be updated shortly.
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