Russian cluster munition attack on Kharkiv Oblast injures 5, including Vovchansk official

Russian forces attacked a village of Vovchansk community in Kharkiv Oblast with cluster munitions on May 16, injuring five people, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.

"Two medics, two drivers, and the head of the Vovchansk City Military Administration were injured," according to the governor's statement.

Tamaz Gambarashvili is the head of the Vovchansk City Military Administration.

Russian forces are taking Ukrainian civilians captive and preventing their evacuation in the embattled northern part of Vovchansk, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said earlier in the day. First cases of executions have also been reported.

Russia launched a new offensive with 30,000 troops on May 10, targeting Kharkiv Oblast, which is situated at the two countries' shared border in northeastern Ukraine.

Moscow's troops have focused their efforts in the directions of Lyptsi and Vovchansk, two settlements a few kilometers south of the border. There is ongoing combat in the northern outskirts of Vovchansk as of the morning of May 16.

Ukrainian troops thwarted Russia's plans to gain a foothold in deeper urban areas in the town, Ukraine's General Staff reported.

Zelensky in Kharkiv: Situation ‘difficult’ but ‘under control,’ Russia suffers losses

“As of today, the situation in Kharkiv Oblast is generally under control, our soldiers are inflicting significant losses” on Russian troops, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

The Kyiv IndependentMartin Fornusek