Two volunteers who came to the embattled city of Vovchansk, Kharkiv Oblast, have been missing for four days and may have been shot by Russian troops, local authorities said on May 14.
Russia launched new offensive actions on May 10 in the directions of Lyptsi and Vovchansk in the north of Kharkiv Oblast.
Tamaz Gambarashvili, the head of Vovchansk City Military Administration, told Suspilne that the two reportedly traveled to Vovchansk without coordinating with local authorities and disappeared amidst the chaos of the renewed assault.
Serhii Bolvinov, the head of the investigative department of the regional police, said the two volunteers never reached their intended destination and that preliminary information indicates that the two could have been shot by the Russian military.
According to eyewitness info, one of them may been killed, Bolvinov said.
The Kharkiv Oblast Prosecutor's Office also reported other possible killings of civilians by Russian forces in the area on May 14. According to an initial investigation, a Russian officer shot a 46-year-old resident, and another civilian was reported missing in the Vovchansk community. Further details about the two civilians are unknown at the time of this publication.
Vovchansk, which had a population of almost 17,000 before the full-scale invasion, came under Russian occupation in February 2022. The town was liberated in September 2022 during Ukraine’s successful counteroffensive in Kharkiv Oblast.
The General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on May 13 that fighting was ongoing for Vovchansk.
Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov said on May 13 that up to 300 people may still be in the town.
Syniehubov said earlier in the day that two elderly civilians were killed, and that fighting was ongoing in the northern part of the city.
Francis Farrell
