KYIV (Reuters) – Russian forces launched an armored ground attack in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region on Friday morning, advancing a kilometer near the border town of Vovchansk in an effort to create a buffer zone, an official said. important military source.
The attack opens a new front in the war, more than two years after the full-scale invasion of Russia. Fighting in the border areas of the Kharkiv region continued and Kiev sent more forces to the area as reinforcements, the Defense Ministry said.
“At approximately 5 am, there was an attempt by the enemy to break through our defensive line under the cover of armored vehicles,” the ministry said.
“So far, these attacks have been repelled; battles of varying intensity continue.”
A senior Ukrainian military source, who declined to be named, said Russian forces intended to push Ukrainian armed forces within 10 kilometers of the Russian border and that Kiev forces were trying to contain them.
(Reporting by Yuliia Dysa and Sergiy Karazy; writing by Tom Balmforth; editing by Mark Heinrich)
