There has been a sharp increase in Russian troop activity in the direction of Kupiansk, Kharkiv Oblast, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on May 26.
"The number of clashes since the beginning of the day has increased to 83. The Russian occupiers are exerting maximum effort to break through our defense," reads the report.
Russian assaults are ongoing in the areas of Novoiehorivka, Petropavlivka, Berestove, and Hrekivka in the direction of Kupiansk, the General Staff said.
The Russian assault in the directoon of Pokrovsk in Donetsk Oblast is also "not decreasing."
"Ukrainian forces are taking measures to hold positions and destroy the enemy's offensive potential," the General Staff said.
According to the report, Russian troops also targeted the northern part of the Kharkiv Oblast with 22 guided areal bombs on May 26.
Earlier in the day, President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia is forming another grouping of troops near Ukraine's northern border amid the ongoing offensive in Kharkiv Oblast.
Russia launched a new offensive on May 10 in northern Kharkiv Oblast. Moscow's forces had reportedly managed to advance as far as 10 kilometers (6 miles) into the region but had been halted by the first line of defense.
"Right now, these days, we are defending ourselves 60 kilometers northeast from this place from yet another attempt of the Russian assault," Zelensky said in the address recorded at the Kharkiv printing house destroyed in a Russian May 23 strike that killed seven people.
"Russia is preparing for offensive actions also 90 kilometers northwest from here – they gather another group of troops near our border... The one who does all this doesn't want peace."
Daria Shulzhenko
