Russia gradually withdrew its forces near Kharkov, Ukraine’s second largest city, after weeks of fighting, in order to focus on the goal of taking complete control of the Donbass region.
Kharkov is one of the first targets of the Russian military’s offensive since Moscow launched a special military operation on February 24. However, on the 80th day of fighting, the General Staff of the Ukrainian army said today that Russian forces are gradually withdrawing from this area after facing fierce resistance from the defense forces.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the Ukrainian army had re-taken control of at least six towns and villages in the east in the past day. Russian forces seem to have abandoned the goal of attacking Kharkov, turning to protecting logistics lines for the goal of complete control of the Donbass region.
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW), based in Washington, US, said that Ukraine may have won the “battle of war”. KharkivThe ISW report assessed that Ukraine prevented the Russian forces from creating a pincer position, making it impossible for them to besiege the city, then push them out of the suburbs.
Russian units “generally made no effort to fend off Ukrainian counter-attacks over the past several days, with a few exceptions”, the ISW assessed. Kharkov Governor Oleh Sinegubov said the city had not recorded any shelling in the past day.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov said the hostilities had entered a “new and prolonged phase”.
Meanwhile, Major General Kyrylo Budanovthe commander of Ukrainian military intelligence, commented in an interview with Sky News announced on May 14 that the turning point would take place in the second half of August and that much of the fighting would be over by the end of the year.
Outline of the Ukrainian battlefield after nearly three months of war. Graphics: Washington Post.
Both sides are focusing their resources on the battlefield in eastern Ukraine. Russia strengthens raids on military targets in the province Donetsk with mortars, artillery and air force. The Ukrainian side said that the Russian military is trying to “exhaust Ukrainian troops and destroy defensive fortifications”.
The Russian Defense Ministry announced that the air force destroyed five more Ukrainian command posts and two ammunition depots in the Spornoye and Berestovoye regions of the Donetsk region, removing more than 100 Ukrainian soldiers and 23 weapons units from the battle.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian army launched a new counterattack near the town Izium part of Kharkov, located in the southeastern part of the province and adjacent to Donetsk. The town is controlled by Russian forces. Ukrainian officials said that maintaining pressure on Izium and Russia’s supply lines in the region could make it more difficult for the Russian military to control the entire Donbass.
City Mariupol The shores of the Sea of Azov are almost entirely controlled by Russian forces. However, there are still about a few hundred Ukrainian soldiers entrenched under the Azovstal iron and steel factory, despite the siege and shelling efforts of Russian forces.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said negotiations with Russia over the evacuation of wounded Ukrainian soldiers from the factory were “very complicated”. All civilians were previously removed from the factory. Ukraine has offered to release some Russian prisoners of war in exchange for evacuating the 38 most seriously wounded soldiers from the Azovstal plant, but Russia has not yet approved.
The President of Ukraine welcomes another high-level delegation from the US to Kiev, led by Senator Mitch McConnell. The US delegation also includes a number of Republican congressmen.
The visit comes as Senator Rand Paul is preventing the US Senate from approving a $40 billion package to help Ukraine and its allies deal with Russia.
In today’s update, General Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the Russian Defense Ministry, said that by May 14, Russian forces had destroyed at least 165 military aircraft, 125 helicopters and 858 aircraft. unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) of the Ukrainian Air Force.
Konashenkov said that the Ukrainian side also lost a total of 304 anti-aircraft missile systems, 3,051 tanks and armor, 372 rocket systems, 1,507 cannons of all kinds, and 2,898 specialized military motor vehicles.
Image of Ukrainian artillery using M777 155 mm cannon provided by the US, announced by Chief of the General Staff Valerii Zaluzhnyi on May 13. Image: Facebook Valerii Zaluzhnyi.
The Russian military has taken control of several more towns and villages outside the Donbass separatist line, including the city of Rubizhne with a pre-war population of about 55,000.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has so far recorded more than 6 million Ukrainians leaving the country after February 24, the time when Russia launched a military operation to “demilitarize and de-fascist Ukraine”. .
The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) reported a total of 7,839 civilian casualties in Ukraine, of which 3,573 died and 3,816 were injured. The agency warned the actual number could be much higher.
The fighting in eastern Ukraine is expected to continue to escalate in the Donets river area, near the city Severodonetsk, next time. Ukrainian forces have organized many tactical counter-attacks in this area in the past time, but have not been able to stop the advance of the Russian army.
“The fate of about 40,000 fighters in the Ukrainian army will be decided by the battle in this city,” warned Oleh Zhdanov, a Ukrainian military expert.
Name (According to Reuters, AP, TASS)
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