More than 30,000 Russian troops are carrying out a renewed offensive in Kharkiv Oblast, National Security and Defense Council Secretary Oleksandr Lytvynenko said in an interview with AFP published on May 13.
Russian troops launched a new wave of attacks on May 10, mainly focusing on border settlements in Kharkiv Oblast.
Ukraine's General Staff said on May 13 that Russia has "tactical success" in the fight for Vovchansk, a town in northern Kharkiv Oblast. Urban combat was ongoing in the northern outskirts of the town, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
"According to their reports, the military is ready to repel (the attack), it is fighting hard. But there are quite a lot of Russians," Lytvynenko said.
In total, Russia deployed around 50,000 soldiers on the border with Kharkiv Oblast before its offensive, he said.
There is currently no threat of an assault on the city of Kharkiv, Lytvynenko added, echoing earlier statements of the local authorities.
Russian forces failed to take Kharkiv in the first weeks of the full-scale invasion despite the fact that the city lies less than 30 kilometers from the Russian border.
Russia "would need years" to occupy Kharkiv, Oleksandr Pivnenko, the commander of Ukraine's National Guard, said amid the looming threat of renewed attack.
A total of 7,023 civilians in Kharkiv Oblast have been evacuated from their homes amid heavy fighting in the region, Syniehubov reported on May 14.
Francis Farrell
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