This marks the fifth known prisoner of war (POWs) swap of 2025 and the 64th since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in February 2022 The suspension reportedly affected 11 shipments of artillery shells and weapons from Dover Air Force Base and a U.S Trump said that Russia has grown more willing to negotiate an end to its war against Ukraine following a sharp decline in oil prices Poland will hold presidential elections on May 18 as the country faces key debates over social policy and national security that could shape its political trajectory The annual report said Russia is using aggressive tactics such as unauthorized airspace incursions and close encounters with NATO ships and aircraft including Iranian-designed Shahed-type drones located about 70 kilometers northwest of Donetsk remains one of the most fiercely contested sectors of the front where Russia has concentrated its main offensive efforts since March  (Updated:  May 6, 2025 11:41 am)Ukraine's drones target Moscow second night in a row, Russian official claims, ahead of Victory Day parade. Debris from one of the drones reportedly fell on the Kashirskoye Highway The reported attack comes just days before Russia's Victory Day parade and three-day "truce." Vice President Mike Pence said Putin "only understands power." About 800 million euros ($905 million) will be allocated for the acquisition and installation of anti-tank mines to deter potential aggression  (Updated:  May 6, 2025 9:36 am)War analysisFrance is sending Ukraine more AASM Hammer bombs — here's what they can do Polish President Andrzej Duda said the United States has tools that can effectively influence the Kremlin arguing that only President Donald Trump has real leverage over Russian President Vladimir Putin by Kateryna HodunovaAn aerial view of the town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast (Libkos/Getty Images)Russian forces attempted to break through the Ukrainian defense and land troops near the town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast Ukraine's Khortytsia group of forces reported on April 14 Vovchansk, located just 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Russian border in Kharkiv Oblast and once home to 17,000 people Vovchansk endured a Russian occupation until September 2022 when Ukrainian troops liberated the town, only to face heavy fighting again after Russia began a new push in May 2024 forcing many residents to flee their homes The Russian military used three armored vehicles and eight motorized vehicles in the recent assault Ukrainian forces destroyed two Russian armored vehicles and six motorized vehicles "The search and destruction of the remnants of the enemy's assault groups continues," Khortytsia said Maksym Komarenko, deputy commander of the 58th Separate Infantry Brigade's rifle battalion, confirmed to Suspilne that Russia had increased the number of attacks in the Kharkiv sector of the front line "An infantry assault is always accompanied by something and the number of drones flying at our positions and the settlements that precede Kharkiv has increased," Komarenko said Previously, Khortytsia said Russian forces were regrouping and preparing for a renewed assault on Kharkiv Oblast "Khortytsia" reported that Russian troops are actively replenishing their units and preparing to resume offensive operations in the region Kateryna Hodunova is a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent She previously worked as a sports journalist in several Ukrainian outlets and was the deputy chief editor at Suspilne Sport Kateryna covered the 2022 Olympics in Beijing and was included in the Special Mentions list at the AIPS Sport Media Awards She holds a bachelor's degree in political journalism from Taras Shevchenko University and a master's degree in political science from the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy This was reported by the spokesman for the State Border Guard Service “Kharkiv region is the direction of the village of Vovchansk The enemy continues to storm the positions of border guards and other components of the Ukrainian Defense Forces This is preceded by massive shelling to destroy the positions of Ukrainian defenders and weaken our defense so that assault groups can enter the battle in the future,” Demchenko said he noted that the enemy cannot achieve significant results in either Kharkiv or Sumy regions the enemy has been amassing personnel and equipment in the Kursk region since last year these forces were used against Ukrainian units in the Kursk region and now they are being used to form small assault groups for operations in the Sumy region 199 combat clashes between the Ukrainian Defense Forces and Russian invaders were recorded at the front yesterday While citing and using any materials on the Internet links to the website ukrinform.net not lower than the first paragraph are mandatory citing the translated materials of foreign media outlets is possible only if there is a link to the website ukrinform.net and the website of a foreign media outlet Materials marked as "Advertisement" or with a disclaimer reading "The material has been posted in accordance with Part 3 of Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine "On Advertising" No 1996 and the Law of Ukraine "On the Media" No 2023 and on the basis of an agreement/invoice Online media entity; Media identifier - R40-01421 It is now five months since Russia launched its cross-border invasion of Kharkiv province Russian forces have failed to advance beyond two shallow salients created in the first days of the operation and Ukrainian difficulties organising a defence With attention currently focused on Kursk and the Pokrovsk front this article examines the forgotten but ongoing battle for Vovchansk The day after the 9 May Victory Day parade the Russian Army launched an offensive across the Belgorod-Kharkiv border According to captured plans shared with The Economist (May 25th – ‘Under Russian Guns’) the intent was to encircle Kharkiv and bring the city under artillery range – Putin’s long-threatened ‘buffer zone’ H-hour was intended for 15-16 May but brought forward to coincide with Victory Day Around 32,000 soldiers were deployed in Belgorod Oblast for the offensive on Kharkiv but only around half were used (likely due to insufficient equipment) The commander of the so-called ‘Northern Group of Forces’ was the luckless but loyal Colonel-General Alexander Lapin who has been in and out of favour in the war Most recently he has been appointed commander of the new Leningrad Military District Major formations under his command on this front include 11th Army Corps (Kaliningrad) 6th Combined Arms Army (Leningrad) and 1st Guards Tank Army (Moscow) 138th Motor Rifle Brigade has a poor record: in the past it has been mired in hazing scandals and it was routed in 2022 and withdrawn to Russia 25th Separate Motor Rifle Brigade was also routed and withdrawn to Belgorod Neither formation has demonstrated zeal for Putin’s war It was believed this referenced Odin’s spear (the Gungir rune) Two salients were developed 35 kilometres apart and separated by a major water feature (the Siverskyi Donets River). The western axis was pointed at the small town of Lyptsi and the eastern axis at Vovchansk.  By the night of 10 May, it was reported Russian troops had taken control of the border villages of Streleche Borisovka and Pylnaya,‘advancing with four to five infantry battalions.’ The eastern salient appeared to develop one day late and Pleten’ivka (north and north-west of Vovchansk) were not reported under attack until 11 May Russian troops were on the outskirts of Vovchansk having driven down the T210B minor road from the border just five kilometres away Vovchansk is a large town with a pre-war population of 17,000 people a feature that would play an important role in the ensuing battle By the end of the second day the Ukrainian MOD reported: ‘Battles are being fought for the border town of Vovchansk The enemy has used significant forces to attack the town and does not count its own losses… Currently The immediate Ukrainian reaction to the Russian offensive was confused and controversial The story is worth telling because it illustrates challenges that continue to test the Ukrainian war effort there were three changes of command in a sector the Ukrainian high command knew was about to be attacked in a major new Russian offensive The deployment of forces to this sector was similarly inadequate.  The single 125th Lviv Territorial Defence Brigade was deployed to the border area. However, only the command element deployed (all 28 officers have been subject to dereliction of duty charges The brigade’s two organic battalions did not deploy the brigade was allocated two battalions it had never worked with (415th Separate Rifle Battalion from 23rd Mechanised Brigade and 172nd Battalion from 120th Vinnytsia Territorial Defence Brigade) This grouping was allocated a 45 kilometre frontage to defend and was replaced by Brigadier General Andrii Hnatov) under-appreciation of the weak state of the border defences and difficulties the brigade might face The only change was 125th Brigade’s subordinate battalions were ordered to deploy to forward positions (which they would abandon within 48 hours) and 42nd Mechanised Brigade (an under-manned formation battered in fighting in Bakhmut) was ordered to backfill vacated rear positions three GUR sub-units also deployed to the area These would prove invaluable in stiffening the collapsing defence line the city of Vovchansk was not at all prepared for street battles and for defence…In the city itself not even any high-quality field fortifications And the enemy entered the city absolutely calmly I want to tell you that our troops were not in the city of Vovchansk at night units of the 57th brigade entered Vovchansk in the morning…from May 12 to 13…there was a situation when there was no one in the city for several hours a measure of how the tank has disappeared from the battlefield) large ‘meat attacks’ became small ‘meat attacks Eventually the Russians resorted to infiltrating assault groups of no more than five people the most deadly the bomb that hit an apartment block in Belgorod City) Next the Russians began to target bridges in an effort to complicate Ukrainian logistics and isolate the town.  The major bridges at Zybine and Stariy Saltiv further south were hit, the latter by a Kh-38 missile.  Several minor bridges in the town and outskirts were also attacked. On 28 May Su-34 dropped three glide bombs on the major east-west bridge in Vovchansk Ukrainian engineers somewhat mitigated these attacks by speedily erecting pontoon bridges or using German-supplied bridge layers The Russians did not have it all their own way Emboldened by the arrival of desperately needed munitions and partial suspension of the prohibition on using NATO weapons against targets in Russia the Ukrainians mounted a clever and effective campaign against depth targets in Belgorod Western Military District-ZVO (today the Leningrad and Moscow Military Districts) has consistently been the worst performing and least motivated in the war Putin’s foolish ‘special military operation’ has relied on cannon fodder from poor Siberian and Far Eastern communities This has been evident again in the fighting in Kharkiv A surprising number of Russians have chosen surrender despite being only five kilometres from the border.  In one incident, as many 30 were reported captured a Russian abandoned by comrades hid for three weeks then surrendered as Ukrainian troops re-took lost positions a Russian PoW dressed in mixed clothing complained of lack of provision and told his captors: ‘This is what we find in the houses Duped Africans have been conscripted in a so-called ‘Africa Corps’ it has become ‘our sewage disposal system’ ZVO was traditionally the premier district receiving the latest and best kit.  Yet in one attack west of Vovchansk, Ukrainian drone pilots destroyed or immobilised T-62Ms These are all vehicles dating to the 1960s it would be as if the Army were still fielding Centurion tanks By July the fighting focused on the Aggregate Plant north of the Vovcha River this took on the aspect of a pathological obsession The cost of this fixation has been hundreds of lives High losses forced the Russians to withdraw units.Reinforcements were then fed into the battle from multiple formations Eventually, on 24 September, following a carefully orchestrated operation, the commander of GUR unit ‘Timur’ confirmed the capture of the Aggregate Plant. Multiple special force groups, in fact, had been involved: ‘Stugna’, ‘Paragon’, ‘Yunger’, ‘RDK’, ‘BDK’, and ‘Terror’.  Around two dozen prisoners were captured and ‘several dozen’ Russian dead were found on the site The 10 October was the first day since the incursion that no fighting at all was reported in Vovchansk The incursion into Kharkiv has once again displayed the blundering incompetence of the Russian Army A town that was meant to be captured in two days five kilometres from the international border has still not been captured five months later An offensive was launched on an anniversary date with poorly motivated and ill-prepared troops Intelligence was woeful: the Russians had no real idea of Ukrainian dispositions and simply advanced to contact Incapable of all arms operations or even effective coordination above company level due to the lack of a working tactical radio system albeit by a chaotic and scrambled Ukrainian response ’who has to endlessly repeat that he is strong.’ Sergio Miller is a retired British Army Intelligence Corps officer He was a regular contributor and book reviewer forBritish Army Review He is the author of a two-part history of the Vietnam War (Osprey/Bloomsbury) and is currently drafting a history of the Russian invasion of Ukraine The Bellingcat Investigation Team is an award winning group of volunteers and full time investigators who make up the core of the Bellingcat's investigative efforts “I don’t have enough fingers to count what was there,” says Nelia Stryzhakova as she recalls the Ukrainian town of Vovchansk was among those to flee Vovchansk when Russian forces began to advance on the city in May this year.  Vovchansk is an administrative centre in the north-east of Ukraine, divided by the Vovcha river, and just five kilometres from the Russian border. In 2022, Vovchansk had 17,000 inhabitants We didn’t even think that in (just) five days we would be blown off the ground like that,” Stryzhakova said Her words are backed up by video and social media evidence that show explosion after explosion across the city.  Bellingcat and journalists from Agence France-Presse (AFP) bureaus in Kyiv Kharkiv and Paris have partnered to investigate the damage in the city and talk to former residents who have first-hand experience of the destruction An analysis of satellite imagery suggests that 60 percent of buildings in Vovchansk have been completely destroyed.  Partial damage was observed on a further 18 percent of buildings leaving just 22 percent of the city where damage has yet to be detected as of late September 2024 factories and libraries have all been wiped out Videos and drone footage show a desolate landscape where only the burnt-out skeletons of buildings remain Residents now living as refugees in nearby Kharkiv describe desperately fleeing the town under heavy bombardment “I took my documents from work and a couple of personal items,” Stryzhakova said where the majority of fighting has taken place has been almost entirely destroyed or seriously damaged The city centre also appears to be so severely affected that few structures remain 90 percent of the centre has been “flattened” Although areas south of the Vovcha river that flows through Vovchansk have been badly impacted especially in industrial districts and houses along major roads large pockets of intact housing are still visible.  Bellingcat used SkySat imagery from Planet Labs PBC to carry out a damage assessment on a building-by-building basis The process manually mapped out damage observed in the satellite imagery into three categories in the map below – green and red means the destruction of a building (readers can zoom in and switch between satellite imagery dates as well as show or hide the damage assessment layer) The destruction in Vovchansk soared after Russia’s most recent offensive began in May The process of manually mapping out damage in Vovchansk sorted the buildings observed in the satellite imagery into three categories – green This means that at the resolution and angle of satellite imagery used this leaves the possibility of damage which was not visible in the imagery.  which are assessed by a broad range of features This could be indications of superficial damage to the roof of buildings even extending to the apparent removal of the roof but in which the ceiling appears to be intact preventing the satellite from seeing inside the walls of the structure Other indications of damage could be visible debris surrounding the building particularly when combined with visible artillery impact craters.  This could be when a building has been completely reduced to rubble or when the roof has been shelled so intensely that the inside of the building’s walls is visible A caveat to this rule is multi-storey apartment buildings where signs of extreme fire damage or partial collapses of the building’s facade will also fall under the red category Decisions on these classifications are based on visual evidence on the map and we cannot completely rule out the possibility of damage having occurred that is not visible on the map Other towns and cities on the front line in Ukraine have faced a similar fate.  Bakhmut in eastern Ukraine’s Donetsk Oblast was once home to 70,000 people before it was almost completely destroyed during intense fighting in 2023 Lieutenant Denys Yaroslavsky of Ukraine’s 57th Brigade Reconnaissance Unit fought in both Bakhmut and Vovchansk “The pace of destruction was so fast What happened in Bakhmut in two or three months happened in Vovchansk in two or three weeks Perhaps it was due to the proximity of the border or the increase in the number of guided aerial bombs and the intensification of heavy fire,” he said control of the town has switched between Ukrainian and Russian forces and back again After Russian troops rolled in at the start of the country’s full invasion in February 2022 Ukraine forced a retreat with an autumn counter-offensive Russia again pushed forward towards Vovchansk The intensity of the attack forced residents to flee with the fierce fighting leading to further destruction Videos posted to social media channels have documented the weapons, tactics and targeting that have led to the city’s near obliteration. One video from late May filmed from a DJI drone showed Russian glide bombs – air-launched often Soviet-era weapons ordnance fitted with wings and satellite-aided navigation to extend their range and precision – landing a direct hit on a multi-storey residential building The video was watermarked with an emblem for Akhmat’s “Barbarian” Unmanned Aerial Vehicle (UAV) detachment In the south of the city, a July 9 video posted to Telegram by Russian news outlet showed simultaneous impacts of several Russian FAB-500 glide bombs near one of the main roads leading into the city centre from the south While fighting has subsided since the summer months Recent reports suggested Russian forces dropped an ODAB-9000 thermobaric bomb, a powerful weapon designed to create a huge blast wave over a wide area, in the centre of the town in late September. However, Ukrainian authorities disputed this claim suggesting that such reports were part of an information war and that a smaller and less powerful munition had been used Yaroslavsky described finding a once peaceful city turned into a desolate wasteland.  we have taken out the enemy and are trying to take physical control of these ruins Seventeen-thousand people lost their homes Because someone did not build fortifications,” he said Kharkiv and Paris met and spoke with Yaroslavsky as well as a group of former Vovchansk residents during a recent trip to Kharkiv Many have remained there as refugees since the beginning of the summer when the most intense fighting began They provide a human face to the destruction that can be seen on satellite imagery and in battle videos Several even described the terror of being faced with a seemingly never-ending barrage of artillery and of seeing their neighbours perish described living at 16 A Stepova Street in the north of the city until May 10 this year Damage analysis shows the home she and her family lived in completely wiped from the map Recent satellite imagery further confirmed this Now living in a former residence for foreign students in Kharkiv she recalled a dramatic tale of escape.     No one could get us out of there,” Zharova said “All the buildings burned down and we were crammed into cellars,” her husband The couple finally decided to flee on foot on June 3 “The drones were flying (around us) like wasps like mosquitoes,” Galyna Zharova remembers They said they walked for several kilometres before they were picked up by Ukrainian volunteers and taken to safety While many now refugees from Vovchansk describe losing their homes others talk of the community and loved ones who didn’t make it ran the municipal library for the past five years at 8 Torhova Street along with its 125,000 books after Russia attacked Comparison imagery shows little else was left standing in this once busy part of town her only son was killed fighting for Ukraine in the battle for Bakhmut I understand that you can’t blame literature but it’s personal,” the former library director said is another to experience the suffering of human loss died after refusing to leave her house in the centre of the city Their last telephone conversation was on May 17 She saw her mother’s house razed to the ground in drone footage I’ve realised that it’s all over,” she says She has given her DNA for possible identification if and when the end of the fighting makes it possible to approach the rubble.  Dzhafarova describes how most of the residents of Vovhchansk were Russian speakers and had relatives in Russia Some even worked across the border before the war There’s no other way to describe it.” “She believed that Kharkiv would be worse than Vovchansk because she watched Russian television,” Dzhafarova said head of the civil and military administration of the urban community of Vovchansk estimates that there were around 4,000 people remaining when Russia’s most recent offensive began Most of the families with children had been evacuated nine months earlier with the city already coming under regular Russian fire since the Ukrainian army recaptured it in the Autumn of 2022 Gambarashvili was himself wounded when hit in the leg by a piece of shrapnel while directing the evacuation of the city was shot dead while trying to escape in their car Her 83-year-old mother-in-law was also killed She described later being held by Russian forces for days before managing to escape and hide out in the basement of a neighbour for one night as “terrible The next day she ran for her life through a forest to safety.   when asked if she could forgive the Russians for killing her husband Zymovska was a regular at the Myrrh Bearers church in Vovchansk He shared images and videos of his congregation as well as footage showing damage from shelling while he was still there.  There is now little left of the parish with satellite imagery showing what little remains The fight over Vovchansk is far from over. The spokesperson for the Kharkiv regional military forces, Vitalii Sarantsev called the situation difficult with Russian troops using “the maximum range of weapons” near the city Russia’s MInistry of Defence did not respond to AFP’s request for comment on the situation in Vovchansk Lieutenant Denys Yaroslavsky of Ukraine’s 57th Brigade Reconnaissance Unit told AFP that people were weary but a lot of fighters who have been on the battlefield since the beginning of the war are now tired want to complete their mission and move abroad These are the soldiers who are now giving their lives for Ukraine and they want to move to other countries,” he said Nelia Stryzhakova has no immediate plans for her future but no one will move to the border with Russia under what conditions the war will end and how,” she said Michael Sheldon and Eoghan Macguire contributed to this report for Bellingcat Boris Bachorz collected interviews and reported from Kharkiv for AFP with most interviews arranged thanks to Oleksiy Obolenskyy A version of this story can be found on the website of the Central European Digital Media Observatory (CEDMO) website ShareSaveComment@font-face{font-family: "Schnyder"; 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others were captured It’s unclear how many Russians were still alive in the plant at the time of its liberation there were reportedly hundreds of Russians spread across the 30 buildings—a daunting force They enjoyed some fire support from Russian artillery staged to the north and reportedly got some supplies delivered by small drones “The Ukrainian armed forces took pleasure in destroying the occupiers,” Deep State noted As the Russian offensive in Vovchansk petered out this summer Ukrainian counterattacks gradually pushed the front line in the town farther north leaving the Russians in the chemical plant even more isolated than before The intelligence directorate waited until the surviving Russians were exhausted—and then assaulted the complex with at least four separate commando teams They breached the plant and cleared it room by room in what the directorate described as “an extremely complex and successful operation.” Liberating the PJSC Volchansky plant eliminates the admittedly small danger the Russians in the plant posed to Ukrainian forces advancing north into Russian-held Vovchansk It’s also revenge for Ukrainian troops whose comrades have been on the other end of more than a few brutal urban sieges since Russia widened its war on Ukraine 31 months ago But it doesn’t mean the Ukrainians have turned the tide of the wider war The fighting remains highly fluid as winter looms once an impregnable fortress for the Ukrainians 1. Ukrainian main intelligence directorate 2. Deep State 3. Ukraine Control Map Since the beginning of the day, 89 combat engagements have been recorded along the entire front line, according to the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine areas of the following settlements were affected by enemy artillery shelling from the territory of Russia: Ukrainian units repelled one enemy attack in the Kharkiv direction near Vovchansk The settlement of Zolochiv came under an airstrike the enemy launched four active assaults on our positions near the settlement of Zahryzove and towards Novoosynove and Hlushkivka Our defenders successfully repelled two enemy attacks; two combat engagements are still ongoing the invading army carried out 13 attacks on Ukrainian positions near the settlements of Hrekivka our defenders repelled three enemy attacks near Kurdiumivka and toward Bila Hora Russian forces attempted to push our units from their positions near Toretsk and Ozarianivka The Defense Forces repelled two assaults; one combat engagement is still ongoing Since the beginning of the day in the Pokrovsk direction the enemy has made 32 attempts to push our defenders from their positions near the settlements of Sukha Balka The Defense Forces are holding their ground and have already repelled 21 enemy attacks Enemy aircraft launched guided bomb strikes on the areas of Shevchenko Pershe Ukrainian soldiers are currently repelling two enemy attacks Eight other assault attempts have already been stopped near the settlements of Novopil Novopil and Novodarivka were hit by unguided aerial rockets the Defense Forces successfully repelled four enemy attacks; one combat engagement remains unresolved The enemy also used unguided rockets on Zaliznychne our defenders successfully repelled 11 assaults in the areas of Stepove and in the directions of Novoandriivka and Novodanylivka Ukrainian defenders repelled six enemy attacks; one combat engagement is still ongoing the enemy conducted 189 artillery strikes on our positions and settlements including five using multiple launch rocket systems In the Siversk and Prydniprovskyi directions the enemy did not conduct active offensive actions Yesterday, Russian forces suffered losses of 1,260 personnel Ukrainian forces also neutralized five tanks and 109 units of enemy automotive equipment This website is using a security service to protect itself from online attacks The action you just performed triggered the security solution There are several actions that could trigger this block including submitting a certain word or phrase You can email the site owner to let them know you were blocked Please include what you were doing when this page came up and the Cloudflare Ray ID found at the bottom of this page the speaker of the “Khortytsia” operational-strategic group of forces On April 21, Trehubov told Gwara Media that “no one (from our military — ed.) counted on anything; we’ve seen these “ceasefires” many times (since 2014).” Earlier, Denys Yaroslavskyi, commander of the Ukrainian Armed Forces intelligence unit, said that Russia is planning to retake Vovchansk city by May 9 the Russian forces have renewed the offensive on Vovchansk and Vovchanski Khutory “Where they (Russians) originally had worse logistics than they used a ceasefire to improve their connecting routes,” said Trehubov Subscribe to news from Kharkiv, UkraineMost important stories from the frontline region Google Facebook Or Register from Google Register from Facebook Or Website materials are permitted only with an active link to “GWARA MEDIA,” not lower than the third paragraph The use of digital platform content is allowed with textual attribution Content for documentary films and integrated products is permitted The site was modernized with the support of the European Endowment for Democracy in 2023 ' + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.webview_notification_text + ' " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_title + " " + scriptOptions._localizedStrings.redirect_overlay_text + " According to Ukrinform, the Khortytsia operational and strategic grouping of troops reported this in Telegram and posted a video “Border guards of the Gart Brigade are successfully targeting enemy manpower and destroying it in the area of Vovchansk During accurate strikes on the places of concentration and an enemy communication antenna was destroyed,” the statement said The military added that “soldiers of the State Border Guard Service as part of the Defense Forces continue to perform combat missions to repel Russian aggression in the Kharkiv region.” As Ukrinform reported earlier, the total combat losses of Russian troops from February 24 2025 in the war against Ukraine amounted to about 944,270 people including 1,210 people in the previous day The group's press service reported this on Telegram "The operational situation has not changed significantly and remains difficult Russian occupiers deployed 118 kamikaze drones and conducted 811 shelling attacks on the positions of Ukrainian defenders Two enemy attempts to breach defensive lines near Vovchansk and Zapadne were successfully repelled," the statement reads Ukrainian forces eliminated 76 Russian troops destroyed 87 units of weaponry and military equipment According to Ukrinform, this was reported by the Khortytsia operational and strategic group of troops in Telegram and a video was published “The occupiers' assault near Vovchansk ended in a complete defeat The enemy tried to attack the defensive positions of the border guards using two MTLBs and a BMP-2,” the statement said The border guards first discovered and burned two pieces of heavy equipment and then eliminated the Russian infantry with drone attacks As Ukrinform reported earlier, in Donetsk region, soldiers of the Phoenix unmanned aerial vehicle unit eliminated Russian invaders fleeing from a tank that had exploded on mines using drones This was reported by Spokesperson for the Kharkiv Operational Tactical Group Pavlo Shamshyn during a television broadcast the enemy attempts to push the Ukrainian Defense Forces out of the town are ongoing but they have been unsuccessful It should be noted that the frontline in the town itself currently runs along the Vovcha River the military quickly detect enemy movements all available means are used to eliminate them even though it is almost completely ruined some camouflage and concealed movements can be conducted the town has underground communications that the enemy uses to accumulate their forces and resources," the spokesperson informed Shamshyn added that the invaders like to hide in basements and various pipes the spokesperson mentioned that these are sewer communications which the Russians use to avoid detection by Ukrainian aerial reconnaissance He stated that the situation in their area has remained relatively stable but difficult for a long time border guards destroyed a Russian T-72 tank and armored personnel carrier in Kharkiv region The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported this on Facebook sharing the operational update as of 16:00 on March 5 It is reported that the areas of Khrinivka and Yasna Poliana in Chernihiv region were affected by Russian artillery strikes today Russian forces are actively trying to break through near Vovchansk "The situation is under the control of the Defense Forces and our defenders are giving a worthy rebuff to the Russian invaders," the General Staff reports one Russian assault near Holubivka was repelled Russian forces carried out five attacks near Novomykhailivka and Nove Ukrainian forces repelled four enemy attacks near Chasiv Yar Ukrainian defenders repelled nine assaults near Toretsk Russian forces launched 11 attacks near Yelyzavetivka Ukrainian defenders repelled two enemy attacks in the areas of Kostiantynopil and Burlatske Russian forces carried out airstrikes on the areas of Odradne and Vesele Ukrainian defenders successfully repelled an attack by the invaders toward Kamianske Russian forces fired 226 artillery strikes Russian forces are attempting to advance towards Pryvilne According to Ukrinform, this was reported by the State Border Guard Service. The destruction of enemy equipment was attributed to the skill of FPV drone operators operators from the Phoenix unmanned aerial systems unit of the Pomsta Brigade destroyed an enemy tank and a drone control center in the Kupiansk direction during the week Photo credit: 28th Separate Mechanized Brigade As reported by Ukrinform, this was announced by the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine (SBGSU) artillery crews of the ‘Hart’ Brigade delivered another round of fire strikes on concentrations of enemy personnel near Vovchansk As a result of the border guards’ artillery operations 33 occupiers were neutralized,” the statement reads Ukrainian Defense Forces continue to search for and eliminate the remnants of Russian airborne assault groups near Vovchansk The State Border Guard Service reported this The Scorpion unit carried out a series of strikes targeting concentrations of Russian personnel along with the occupiers' engineering equipment supported by mortar crews from the Hart brigade neutralized 18 invaders,” the statement reads fighters from the "Steel Frontier" offensive guard brigade in coordination with other Defense Forces units repelled an enemy assault and destroyed Russian armored vehicles in the Sumy region by Kateryna DenisovaA screenshot from footage released Sept 24 showing the recaptured aggregate plant in the town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast (Ukraine's intelligence military/Telegram)Ukrainian forces captured around 20 Russian soldiers and killed "several dozen" others during an operation to recapture an aggregate plant in the town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast a member of Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) claimed on Sept Speaking to national television, a HUR special forces officer with the call sign Viking revealed details of the operation adding a further four Russian soldiers "tried to leave the plant and were neutralized outside the perimeter." "The battle lasted a little over a week The enemy at the factory put up a lot of resistance but in the end we completed the task," he said Russian troops had been in control of the Vovchansk plant for several months before the facility was recaptured on Sept But it is possible to maintain a defense there," Viking said The Kyiv Independent could not verify these claims HUR Chief Kyrylo Budanov was briefed on the "successful completion of the operation," HUR said in a statement on Sept adding the "extremely difficult" attack was carried out by the agency's special forces "The fighters of HUR carried out a systematic sweep of the plant's buildings constantly engaging in contact battles with the enemy in densely built-up conditions Ukrainian special forces engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy," it claimed "Ukraine's Armed Forces took the territory of the aggregate plant under control after all 30 buildings were cleared (of Russian forces)." Vovchansk is an embattled town some 60 kilometers (37 miles) northeast of Kharkiv that has seen heavy battles since Russia launched a new offensive in the area in May While initially gaining ground, the Russian offensive in northern Kharkiv Oblast has quickly bogged down, with Russian troops reportedly suffering heavy losses The intensity of fighting has decreased somewhat compared to other sectors in Ukraine's east near Pokrovsk Kateryna Denisova works as a News Editor at the Kyiv Independent She previously worked as a news editor at the NV media outlet for four years covering mainly Ukrainian and international politics Kateryna holds a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Taras Shevchenko University of Kyiv She also was a fellow at journalism schools in the Czech Republic and Germany a spokesman for the Kharkiv Joint Task Force “The operational situation in the area of responsibility of the Kharkiv operational and tactical group has not changed significantly recently, but remains difficult. Russians are traditionally most active in the area of Vovchansk Since the beginning of the day our defenders have repelled three enemy attacks there,” said Shamshyn the Russians continue to methodically destroy the city “This includes artillery of various calibers and heavy flamethrower systems operating from the area of Shebekino There are a lot of them in the sky of Vovchansk They [Russians] use different systems there These are FPV drones and drones with dumping systems,” Shamshyn said The speaker also noted that the situation near the village of Dvorichna deserves special attention the Russians do not abandon their intention to continue to transfer their infantry groups to the right bank of the Oskil River They want to maintain and expand their foothold to pose a threat to the city of Kupiansk from the north along the right bank We see that they have recently focused their attention on the area of Mala Shapkivka and Zakhidne These are the settlements located along the R-79 highway This is the shortest way to Kupiansk along the right bank and they need it to take control of this logistics route,” said Shamshyn the enemy needs to set up pontoon crossings across the Oskil enemy special equipment is destroyed when approaching the shore or when the pontoons themselves are being decomposed The spokesman noted that there is a constant rotation of enemy personnel in the area of Vovchansk they need to replenish their ranks with new forces they are not only replacing personnel who have left for one reason or another but also strengthening their grouping there We can say that they are redirecting new forces there,” Shamshyn said He recalled the statements of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief and the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine that during the spring-summer campaign the Russians are planning active offensive actions in the Kharkiv sector “We do not rule out that Vovchansk may be one of these areas because they have not abandoned their intention to create a so-called buffer zone,” noted Shamshyn Another threatening direction is the area around Dvorichna “we need to pay maximum attention to it they already have a foothold on the right bank of the Oskil so that there is no threat to Kupiansk from the north along the right bank.” the Russians used the so-called Easter truce to pull their forces closer to the front line in the Dvorichna area As Ukrinform reported earlier, 85 combat engagements have taken place between Ukrainian defenders and Russian troops since the beginning of the day and fighting is still ongoing in a number of frontline areas with the enemy being most active in the Pokrovsk sector Photo of Vovchansk: Instagram / Kostiantyn Liberov Oleh Syniehubov, the head of the Kharkiv Regional Military Administration, informed this on Telegram “The occupiers continue to terrorize the civilian population of Vovchansk A 64-year-old man was injured as a result of an explosive drop from an enemy drone,” Syniehubov stated The injured man was transported to a medical facility in serious condition soldiers from the Hart border brigade successfully destroyed the antenna of an electronic warfare device and Russian positions in the Vovchansk sector According to Ukrinform, the Khortytsia operational and strategic group of troops reported this in a Telegram message Thanks to the accurate strikes of the border guards As reported by Ukrinform, soldiers of the Phoenix unmanned aerial systems unit of the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine destroyed 10 trucks and cars of Russian invaders using drones in Kharkiv region Illustrative photo: 110th separate mechanized brigade named after Major General Marko Bezruchko spokesperson for the State Border Guard Service “There are two key areas where the Russian Federation has a certain amount of forces and means in particular in the area where the Defense Forces conducted their operation within the Kursk region and they (Russia - ed.) continue to pull up there these small assault groups attempting to cross into Ukraine originate from the forces Russia has maintained and continues to reinforce The enemy has concentrated sufficient forces and resources in the directions of Vovchansk and Lyptsi enabling them to conduct combat operations on Ukrainian territory,” said Demchenko the Ukrainian Defense Forces hit the permanent deployment point of the Russian army’s 448th missile brigade in the Kursk region which launched a missile attack on Sumy on April 13 “We understand that Russians will try to retake Vovchansk—or rather the ruins that remain of the city so we are ready for a counterattack,” said Yaroslavskyi Moscow is seeking to achieve “symbolic victories” by May 9 the day the “Victory Day Parade” will take place There is also fighting on the Kupiansk axis in Kharkiv Oblast and Russians are trying to conduct assaults and unmanned aerial vehicles are always working Our pilots control the entire zone and try to repel all attacks,” said Yaroslavskyi In January 2025, a Kyiv court arrested officers General Yurii Halushkin, General Artur Horbenko, and Colonel Illia Lapin under charges of negligence in military service during the 2024 defence of Kharkiv Oblast and for the latter two, unauthorized withdrawal from the frontline. Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker spokesperson for the Kharkiv Operational and Tactical Group of Forces "The enemy's tactics in the Kharkiv sector have not significantly changed in recent days adjusting their actions based on the maneuvers of the Ukrainian Armed Forces," Shamshyn said the fiercest fighting is taking place in Vovchansk where Russian troops are attempting to drive Ukrainian forces out of the city -- so far without success "The enemy is trying to use underground infrastructure to amass forces and launch attacks there were several attempts to assault Ukrainian positions in the Vovchansk area all of which were successfully repelled by the Ukrainian Defense Forces," he added Shamshyn noted that after three years of full-scale war the battlefield dynamics have shifted significantly Initially resembling a 20th-century-style conventional war today's warfare is dominated by drones The enemy also primarily relies on drones for both reconnaissance and combat operations Weather conditions further complicate the situation Shamshyn said that neither side can control the weather "Clear skies allow the enemy to conduct aerial reconnaissance while overcast conditions prompt them to act based on previously gathered intelligence," he said as Russian forces use it to attempt stealthy advances toward Ukrainian positions we have the means to detect enemy movements even in poor visibility Our forces employ drones equipped with infrared sensors which allow us to spot and neutralize hostile groups despite the fog," he said Shamshyn highlighted a major shift in supply strategies transport vehicles played a key role in delivering supplies to the front lines with the battlefield and supply routes now under near-constant enemy surveillance Ukrainian forces are increasingly turning to drone-based logistics The enemy faces similar logistical challenges According to Ukrinform, the press service of the Kharkiv Operational Tactical Group of Troops reported this on Telegram Russian invaders conducted an airstrike with a glide bomb and carried out 444 shelling attacks on the positions of Ukrainian defenders Ten attempts by the enemy to attack near Vovchansk and towards Mala Shapkivka were successfully repelled," the statement reads the Ukrainian Defense Forces eliminated 86 Russian soldiers destroyed 69 units of weapons and military equipment and 60 shelters for personnel in this sector of the front the total combat losses of Russian forces from February 24 in the war against Ukraine amount to approximately 898,070 personnel with 1,060 casualties reported over the past day by The Kyiv Independent news deskIn this screengrab taken from aerial video footage which has been under heavy bombardment daily since Russia launched a new offensive in the region (Libkos/Getty Images)Almost 80% of buildings in Vovchansk have been destroyed or damaged after Russia launched its offensive against the town a joint investigation by Bellingcat and AFP published on Oct The once 17,000-strong town, located just 5 kilometers (3 miles) from the Russian border in Kharkiv Oblast became heavily contested following Russia’s full-scale invasion Vovchansk endured a Russian occupation until the 2022 autumn Ukrainian counter-offensive liberated the town, only to face heavy fighting again after Russia began a new push in May 2024 Talking to journalists the civilians recounted harrowing stories of escape from Russian occupiers deliberately targeted civilians during their attempts to flee and a church were among the many destroyed buildings Some 60% of all buildings in the town were destroyed Despite Russia’s surprise assault in May, the Russian offensive in northern Kharkiv Oblast has quickly bogged down, with Russian troops reportedly suffering heavy losses. the intensity of fighting has decreased somewhat compared to other sectors in Ukraine's east near Pokrovsk Russian tactics usually entail flattening towns and villages with artillery barrages and bombs before moving in to "capture" the ruined settlements For example, no buildings were left intact in the Donetsk Oblast town of Toretsk as a result of the Russian onslaught a spokesperson of the Operational Tactical Group Luhansk We are the news team of the Kyiv Independent We are here to make sure our readers get quick essential updates about the events in Ukraine Feel free to contact us via email with feedback and news alerts Nov 27 — Russian troops can’t advance but increase glide bomb and artillery attacks on the Ukrainian army’s positions in Vovchansk and near it on the Kharkiv axis the spokesman for the “Kharkiv” group of forces Almost 80% of the buildings of Vovchansk were damaged or destroyed after Russia began its new ground offensive on Kharkiv Oblast in May 2024, revealed the investigation by Bellingcat and AFP, published on October 28. Ukrainian troops stopped the Russian push into the north of the region in the summer of 2024. Fighting near Lyptsi and in Vovchansk continues today.  Romanov said that, in Vovchansk, the combat is constant, but the Russian army doesn’t have advantages because “they can’t move in large columns [utilizing] the heavy armored machinery or advance in large numbers because Vovchansk’s terrain became very particular after the period of long combat.”  He added that almost all roadways in Vovchansk are gone, and those that have “stayed intact” are now mined.  Romanov also said Russians can’t move in smaller groups, too, because of the Armed Forces’ firepower and their strike drones patrolling the area.  This was reported during a television broadcast by the spokesperson for the Kharkiv Operational-Tactical Group "Combat operations are ongoing constantly in the Vovchansk direction and in Vovchansk itself The enemy is attempting to storm the positions of the Ukrainian defenders except they have recently begun using glide bombs and flamethrower rocket systems more frequently aiming to destroy the fortifications held by our defenders," Romanov stated the Russian forces are unable to advance with large columns or heavy armored vehicles because all areas are pre-sighted by the Ukrainian forces aerial reconnaissance with drones is constantly conducted The enemy cannot advance in any other way than in small groups," the spokesperson explained Romanov also noted that weather conditions are impacting the course of combat operations in northern Kharkiv region and strong winds have made the use of strike and reconnaissance drones either impossible or significantly less effective the Kharkiv front saw four combat engagements near Vovchansk on November 26 by Kateryna DenisovaThe footage showing an aggregate plant in the town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast (Ukraine's intelligence military/Telegram)Ukrainian forces recaptured an aggregate plant in the town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast Ukraine's military intelligence (HUR) reported on Sept HUR Chief Kyrylo Budanov was briefed on the "successful completion of the operation" earlier in the day adding the "extremely difficult" attack was carried out by HUR special forces "The fighters of HUR carried out a systematic sweep of the plant's buildings Ukrainian special forces engaged in hand-to-hand combat with the enemy," it added "Ukraine's Armed Forces took under control the territory of the aggregate plant after all 30 buildings were cleared (of Russian forces)." Ukrainian troops also reportedly took Russian captives Russian troops have been in control of the Vovchansk plant for several months Russian soldiers attacked Ukrainian soldiers with kamikaze attack drones and continued intensive shelling with TOS-1 "Solntsepek" multiple rocket launchers Vovchansk is an embattled town some 60 kilometers (37 miles) northeast of Kharkiv that has seen heavy battles since Russia launched a new offensive in the area in May While initially gaining ground, the Russian offensive in northern Kharkiv Oblast has quickly bogged down, with Russian troops reportedly suffering heavy losses Ukrainian forces recaptured the Volchansky chemical plant in Vovchansk a strategic location previously used by Russian troops for tactical operations along the Vovcha River -British Military Intelligence noted that this loss limits Russia’s ability to advance in the region and could facilitate further Ukrainian counter-offensives toward the Ukraine-Russia border -Russia has been diverting forces from Vovchansk to the Kursk Oblast where Ukrainian troops have established a presence since August 2024 Ukraine’s strategic incursions into Russian territory aim to force Russia to redeploy elite units balancing its own defenses while maintaining pressure on Russian forces the Ukrainian military recaptured and cleared the Volchansky chemical plant in Vovchansk “The chemical plant acted as a Russian stronghold enabling tactical operations on the Vovcha River,” the British Military Intelligence assessed in its latest operational estimate of the war.   It is not the first time that Russian forces militarized and operated from sensitive facilities the Russian military has used the Zaporizhzhia nuclear reactor facility to house troops and even long-range fires that have repeatedly fired against Ukrainian positions.  “Its loss will likely limit opportunities for Russian Ground Forces (RGF) to advance in Kharkiv oblast. Ukrainian control of the plant will likely facilitate further counter-offensives in the north of the city to push the RGF back towards the Ukraine-Russia border,” British Military Intelligence added.  Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest urban center behind the capital, Kyiv, was a primary objective for the initial invasion wave in February 2022. The Russian military came within the suburbs of the city and threatened to capture it a stalwart Ukrainian defense prevented its loss when the Ukrainian military launched a surprise counteroffensive that liberated hundreds of square miles of territory in northeastern Ukraine that Kharkiv was made secure.   “Vovchansk has been contested since May 2024, when the RGF began an offensive operation in the Kharkiv oblast, likely to create a ‘buffer zone’ to deter and mitigate against any Ukrainian attacks in the Belgorod area.  five kilometers south of the Ukraine-Russia border being a heavily contested city with both sides striving to push the other out of the area,” the British Military Intelligence added.   Both sides fight hard and are willing to sacrifice a lot before abandoning a position.  “Russia has drawn forces away from the Vovchansk area to support operations in Kursk oblast where Ukraine has occupied a salient of Russian territory since August 2024 This has almost certainly reduced the RGF capabilities in the Vovchansk area,” the British Military Intelligence concluded.   As the Ukrainian forces continued to capture settlements and widen their stake inside Russia the Kremlin was forced to relocate elite paratrooper and marine units to deal with the threat Given Moscow’s limited pool of well-trained and equipped units any elite units relocated to Kursk couldn’t be replaced However, the same consideration was applied to the Ukrainian military Any elite units relocated to the foray inside Russia would miss the defense of Ukraine Kyiv has managed this tricky balance.   Image Credit: Creative Commons and/or Shutterstock.  Nothing about the M10 “light” tank made sense given the current threat environment American forces face Irrespective of what one thinks of Israel’s actions from a moral standpoint the facts are clear from a strategic standpoint Israel’s massive bombing campaign against Gaza simply isn’t working In a remarkable move—at least for Russian military doctrine—the engineers at Uralvagonzavod built the Vepr around the prospect of enhancing the safety of the crew Stay in the know with The National Interest newsletter © Copyright 2025 Center for the National Interest We use cookies to enhance your browsing experience We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below The cookies that are categorised as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site We also use third-party cookies that help us analyse how you use this website and provide the content and advertisements that are relevant to you These cookies will only be stored in your browser with your prior consent You can choose to enable or disable some or all of these cookies but disabling some of them may affect your browsing experience Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors Performance cookies are used to understand and analyse the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customised advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyse the effectiveness of the ad campaigns The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine reported this on social media But that did not help," the report says Fourteen Russian servicemen have been eliminated Russia’s casualty toll since the full-scale invasion has reached an estimated 875,610 The Kramatorsk Border Guard Detachment announced this on Facebook and shared relevant footage “The occupants persist in their attempts to breach the defensive redoubts of the Ukrainian Defense Forces the enemy initiated an attack on our positions with approximately 10 pieces of equipment and infantry The Ukrainian military successfully repelled the attack preventing the enemy from capturing any meter of the land,” the Forpost brigade's intelligence noted drone operators from the Phoenix strike drone unit of the State Border Guard Service’s Pomsta (Revenge) Brigade destroyed three enemy tanks a dugout and infantry in the Donetsk region According to Ukrinform, the Hart Brigade reported this via Telegram and released corresponding video footage Video: Hart Brigade "Reconnaissance and strike UAV teams and mortar crews from the Scorpion unit of the Hart Brigade neutralized nine occupiers and destroyed an electronic warfare antenna during strikes on enemy positions," the statement said That’s according to the press service of the Kharkiv Grouping Command "The situation has not undergone significant changes and remains complicated Russian invaders launched two air strikes involving four KAB glide bombs and also carried out 693 artillery strikes on the positions of Ukraine’s defenders Three enemy attempts to break through our defensive lines in the Vovchansk area have been repelled," the report says the Defense Forces have eliminated 56 occupiers Russia’s war casualty toll in Ukraine has reached an estimated 905,940 including 1,180 killed or wounded in action in past 24 hours The HUR agency posted the corresponding video on Facebook “The assault and clearing of 40 buildings at the premises of the Vovchansk Aggregate Plant was one of the most challenging front-line missions of 2024 executed by soldiers from the “Timur Special Operations Unit” of the HUR defense intelligence agency,” the press service noted The video shows exclusive episodes of combat performance of the Stuhna unit’s Timur group HUR units liberated the Vovchansky Aggregate Plant from Russian invaders the commander of HUR’s Timur special operations unit reported to the head of the agency that the operation had been successfully completed The operation was executed by four combat groups According to Ukrinform, the Khortytsia operational and strategic grouping of troops reported this in Telegram and posted a video Video: State Border Guard Service the Scorpion unit together with the Furia air defense system destroyed a drone takeoff point two communication antennas and a Murom-M video surveillance system which the occupiers disguised as a birdhouse,” the statement said Ukrainian soldiers also hit Russian strongholds and neutralized 26 invaders As Ukrinform reported, soldiers of a separate regiment of unmanned systems “Achilles” destroyed a Russian tank and an infantry fighting vehicle in two directions in the Kharkiv region Footage of the operation was shared on Facebook by the Kharkiv Operational-Tactical Group The combat clashes involved Russian assault groups and soldiers from the 113th Separate Territorial Defense Brigade alongside units of border guards and rangers the Russian forces recently attempted to breach defensive lines near the town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv region #article-stream-0 .subhead3-embed .font-accent{font-family: Euclid,"Noto Sans","Droid Sans","Helvetica Neue",Corbel,Helvetica,Arial,sans-serif;}83rd Airborne Brigade troopers in happier times Russia’s Victory Day offensive across Ukraine’s northern border with Russia may have aimed to capture a wide deep swathe of territory to bring heavy artillery closer to the city of Kharkiv Russian commanders may have hoped to march on Kharkiv itself Within a couple of weeks of the offensive kicking off on May 9—the day Russia celebrates its defeat of Nazi Germany in World War II—the force of 30,000 or so Russian troops got bogged down in the town of Vovchansk including some or part of several Ukrainian mechanized have reportedly defeated an elite Russian airborne brigade According to a well-regarded Ukrainian correspondent who writes under the pseudonym “Nikolaev Vanek,” the 83rd Airborne Brigade has retreated from Vovchansk after a costly three-week deployment “The entire 83rd Airborne Brigade is urgently withdrawn to the rear to restore combat capability,” Vanek wrote a “code 500” is a soldier who refuses to fight the 83rd Airborne Brigade ditched its parachutes and fought as a mechanized force in its tracked BMD and wheeled BTR vehicles Redeploying hundreds of miles at a time to respond to Ukrainian attacks and opportunities for Russian attacks the brigade fought in the south in 2023 and took part in the Russian siege of the eastern town of Chasiv Yar As the Victory Day offensive ground to a halt in Vovchansk Russian commanders ordered the 83rd Airborne Brigade to head north and get the northern grouping of forces moving again The Ukrainian 82nd Air Assault Brigade targeted the Russian paratroopers with mortars It was a disastrous start for the 83rd Airborne Brigade in Vovchansk they deployed one assault battalion from the 83rd Brigade,” Kriegsforscher noted “It suffered losses and they deployed the rest of the brigade.” I don't know what to do next.” Two of his fellow troopers lay wounded the 83rd Airborne Brigade had suffered so many losses among its approximately 2,000 pre-war personnel—including troopers who allegedly refused to fight—that it was no longer capable of major combat The unit had no choice but to withdraw from the battlefield He wrote that he expected a similar fate for whichever Russian unit replaces the 83rd Airborne Brigade in a battle that is rapidly becoming a trap for Russian infantry Nikolaev Vanek: https://t.me/vanek_nikolaev/24657 Rob Lee: https://x.com/RALee85/status/1109529451577135105 Ukraine Control Map: https://www.google.com/maps/d/u/0/viewer?mid=1xPxgT8LtUjuspSOGHJc2VzA5O5jWMTE&ll=50.3303843629436%2C36.91383643398026&z=13 Kriegsforscher: https://x.com/OSINTua/status/1803094835290578964 Anton Gerashchenko: https://x.com/Gerashchenko_en/status/1800832716062986645 Russia is sending troops with no combat experience to reinforce attacks in northern Ukraine "The latest reports say that the units being brought in for assault actions in Vovchansk have received rather poor training: These servicemen have never seen combat before," Ukrainska Pravda reported him as saying Ukraine and Russia have spent much of the summer fighting for control of Vovchansk a city in the Kharkiv region about three miles from the border an estimated 30,000 Russian troops poured over the border from the Russian region of Belgorod and into Kharkiv opening up a new front and adding miles to Ukraine's already-strained front lines But within a month, the offensive had stalled and Russian positions have not moved significantly since — including in Vovchansk Sarantsev said that the newer Russian troops reinforcing Vovchansk are very inexperienced "It is our understanding that this newly arrived personnel is a mobilization resource raised by Russia," he said "It's not yet known for certain whether these are former prisoners or representatives of other countries," he added Meanwhile, the US-based Institute for the Study of War said that it had not seen any evidence supporting the idea that new conscripts had been fighting in Kharkiv The use of conscripts in fighting positions — as has been widely reported in Russia's defense of Kursk where Ukraine launched its own offensive — is a politically sensitive matter in Russia and one that Ukraine has a strong interest in highlighting per Ukrinform: "The enemy is increasingly attracting personnel who are not morally ready to perform any tasks." "But people understand that they are cheated dust and debris can be seen after after a Russian attack that hit a residential building in Kharkiv A firefighter works on extinguishing a fire after after a Russian attack that hit a residential building in Kharkiv A view of debris and rubble after after a Russian attack that hit a residential building in Kharkiv Emergency workers stand amidst the rubble after after a Russian attack that hit a residential building in Kharkiv In this photo provided by the Press service of 72nd mechanised brigade an injured Ukrainian serviceman speaks on a cellphone after evacuation from the battlefield to field hospital in Donetsk region (Valentyn Kuzan/Press service of 72nd mechanised brigade an injured Ukrainian serviceman speaks on a cellphone to his relatives after evacuation from the battlefield to field hospital in Donetsk region A firefighter extinguishes a fire on a damaged building after a Russian attack in the Donetsk region of Ukraine Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy addresses the the Summit of the Future at United Nations headquarters Russian President Vladimir Putin is trying to grind down Ukraine’s appetite for the fight and sap the West’s support for Kyiv by drawing out the conflict Russian forces have been creeping forward on the battlefield this year but the progress has been costly Defense Ministry estimates more than 1,000 Russian troops are being killed or wounded each day A statement from Ukrainian Military Intelligence said its units recaptured the Vovchansk plant after fierce fighting “in densely built-up conditions.” The Russian onslaught has reduced Vovchansk and many other Ukrainian towns and villages to smoking piles of rubble and bombed-out residential buildings relentlessly bombing towns and cities while trying to tear holes in Ukrainian defenses at places along the 1,000-kilometer (600-mile) front line at least three people were killed and 28 were injured Tuesday in a Russian glide bomb attack “People are still trapped under the rubble One of the multi-story buildings suffered a direct hit The rescue operation continues,” Syniehubov wrote on Telegram Ukrainian forces are also under severe pressure in the town of Vuhledar one of a key belt of strongholds in the Donetsk region which along with Luhansk makes up the partly occupied Donbas Russian forces are obliterating Vuhledar with glide bombs while infantry units advance on the flanks in a bid to encircle the town head of Ukraine’s Center for Combating Disinformation of the National Security and Defense Council of Ukraine The opinion was expressed by the spokesman for the Kharkiv Grouping of Troops who spoke on the air of the national telethon "This shows that the enemy is gradually exhausting its offensive capability being forced to engage all available units in order to perform some assault efforts with their help even the enemy command has no high hopes for that unit ("Akhmat" - ed.) We all know their approaches to combat missions My opinion is that the unit will be doing PR stunts without engaging in any serious combat action," Sarantsev said the enemy completed the replacement of the 83rd Separate Airborne Assault Brigade with the 136th Separate Motorized Rifle Brigade "The enemy is already trying to do reconnaissance looking for weak spots in our defense lines the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) think tank said the Russian military command relocated reserve units from the Pokrovsk axis to Kursk region where the raid by Ukraine’s Armed Forces is underway The Associated Press has obtained rare drone footage of the destroyed ruins of the embattled town of Vovchansk in northeast Ukraine as Russian forces try to capture the Ukrainian region known as the Donbas Ukraine (AP) — Smoking piles of rubble and the bombed-out shells of residential buildings are all that remains of the town of Vovchansk in Ukraine’s northeast rare drone video obtained by The Associated Press showed That assault opened a new front in the two-year war to overstretch already exhausted Ukrainian forces fighting across the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile front line) Ukraine has been prohibited from using Western-supplied weapons to attack Russia itself and Ukrainians have long argued that Moscow enjoys a great advantage when it attacks the Kharkiv region because it can amass troops and launch deadly attacks from within in its own territory The ability to strike supply lines feeding the Kharkiv offensive further inside Russia will help Ukraine degrade Russian capabilities in the region The drone footage captures the scene in Vovchansk from sunrise on May 28 through to the following morning thick smoke obscures the sky over a residential complex where fires burn from multiple blocks The drone captures the moment a shell hits a building and debris flies into the air The drone view pulls out wider to capture another impact It continues to record the scene through the night many buildings seen shining brightly on a thermal imaging camera as fires continue The gleaming golden dome of the church still stands intact a stark contrast to the rest of the destroyed town residents who chose to stay lived in fear of assault drones and glide bombs that targeted Ukrainian troops and machinery but very often killed civilians