The Fact News Service
New Delhi, May 17
Ukraine has said that its army had slowed the advance of the Russians in the war’s new hotbed as Moscow said on Friday that a big wave of drones attacked many places including occupied Crimea.
Seven days after Russian troops took control of the border, taking about 12 villages and opening a new front in the northeastern Kharkiv region, Kyiv and its allies seemed optimistic that it could prevent a sweeping summer of setbacks while awaiting a new US military aid.
The offensive, that began about a week ago, has raised fears that Ukraine’s second-largest city could even be vulnerable, but Russia’s President Vladimir Putin said he was aiming to carve out a buffer zone for his own embattled border regions.
According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the situation has been stabilized and the Russians have only advanced into Ukrainian territory by a maximum of 6 miles.
In a meeting with reporters late on Thursday, Zelenskyy stated that Russian forces had advanced to the first line of Ukraine’s defenses in the area. He also added that the enemy had been able to enter the area under the cover of aerial artillery and bombs due to a lack of adequate air defense.
The important town of Vovchansk, which is only three miles from the border and has been the scene of intense fighting between the two sides, is what Zelenskyy said the Russian military’s immediate objective was to take control of. Although thousands of people were compelled to flee the border region, the Ukrainian military declared on Thursday that the Russian advance in Vovchansk had been halted.
