Ukraine withdraws troops near areas in Kharkiv region

Kiev sent reinforcements to the area to prevent Russia from advancing. (File)

Kyiv, Ukraine:

Ukraine withdrew troops near several villages in the region northeast of Kharkiv, where Russian forces have been advancing and attacking settlements in a new offensive along the border, Kiev said.

The military gave details of the withdrawal while US Secretary of State Antony Blinken was on an unannounced visit to Kiev, where President Volodymyr Zelensky urged him to speed up arms supplies to the US.

Moscow launched a major surprise ground attack on the Kharkiv region last week as it tries to advance on the battlefield with Kiev scrambling for weapons and manpower.

“In some areas, around Lukyantsi and Vovchansk, in response to enemy fire and attacks by ground troops, and to save the lives of our soldiers and avoid losses, our units maneuvered and moved to more advantageous positions,” the Ukrainian military said Tuesday night. .

Throughout the two-year war, both sides typically used the language of moving to “more advantageous positions” to mean withdrawals.

The two villages – separated by around 30 kilometers – are close to the border with Russia and were the target of the new offensive.

Ukraine’s General Staff said the situation “remains difficult” but insisted its forces were “not allowing the Russian occupiers to gain a foothold.”

Kiev sent reinforcements to the area to prevent Russia from advancing.

‘Difficult’ fighting in the east

Some military analysts say Moscow may be trying to force Ukraine to divert troops from other frontline areas, such as around the strategic town of Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region, where Russia has also advanced.

“The Donetsk and Kharkiv regions are where things are most difficult now,” Zelensky said in a speech on Tuesday night.

Kiev on Wednesday canceled some emergency power cuts it had introduced to deal with a drop in temperatures that overwhelmed its damaged power system.

State energy operator Ukrenergo announced a series of power cuts overnight and into the early morning hours to deal with “cold weather amid the fallout from Russian bombing raids” that destroyed swathes of Ukraine’s generation facilities.

“Emergency shutdowns in Kiev, the Kiev region, the Odesa region, the Donetsk region and the Dnipropetrovsk region have been suspended,” said DTEK, the country’s largest private energy operator.

Blinken’s visit came just weeks after the US Congress finally approved a $61 billion financial aid package for Ukraine after months of political wrangling, unlocking much-needed weapons for the country’s unarmed troops.

His visit began when the Russian Defense Ministry announced that its troops had captured two more villages in the Kharkiv region. During a meeting with Blinken, Zelensky asked for two more Patriot air defense systems to defend the border territory.

Ukrainian officials said more than 30,000 Russian forces had been sent to the northeast region but that the regional center, the country’s second-largest city, Kharkiv, was not threatened by the offensive.

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