Ukrainian forces are retaliating against enemy in direction of Kharkiv: Zelensky

Ukraine says it has repelled a Russian armoured attack in the north-eastern Kharkiv region, after Moscow's forces launched an incursion across the border and sought to break through defensive lines, BBC reports.

 

Kharkiv regional head Oleh Syniehubov said Russian reconnaissance groups had tried to penetrate the border, adding that "not a single metre has been lost".

 

"Russia has launched a new wave of counteroffensive operations in the Kharkiv sector," said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.

 

Also on Friday, a huge fire broke out at an oil storage depot in Ukraine's occupied Luhansk region after what Russian-installed officials said was a Ukrainian strike. Three people were killed in the attack, they added.

 

Ukrainian commanders have been expecting a summer offensive for some time, possibly even a bid to capture the regional capital, Kharkiv. But officials are adamant Russia does not have the resources to do so.

 

Russia had the capability to aggravate the situation in border areas but not the ability to capture Ukraine's second city, said the head of Ukraine's centre for countering disinformation, Andriy Kovalenko.

 

Ukrainian reports suggested Russia was trying to create a 10km buffer zone for its Belgorod region, after a series of Ukrainian cross-border attacks.

 

Friday's small incursions over the Russian border form a familiar yet disturbing axis for Ukrainian forces.

 

The defence ministry in Kyiv said the attack started with the heavy bombing of the town of Vovchansk "using guided aerial bombs" with the support of artillery. Then, small Russian “scouting groups” moved in across the border, reportedly in several places.