'Signs of escalation' on battlefield in Kharkiv sector, Ukraine's military says
Ukraine's military said on Aug. 1 that several observations on the battlefield suggest Russia could be escalating military operations in Kharkiv Oblast.
"The situation in the operational area of the Kharkiv Group of Forces remains difficult, tense and has signs of escalating," group spokesperson Vitalii Sarantsev said on national TV, in comments reported by Ukrinform.
Russia launched the offensive in the northern part of Kharkiv Oblast back in May. The push eventually ran out of steam as Ukrainian forces halted Moscow's advance.
Sarantsev said Russian forces observed in Kharkiv Oblast were conducting internal rotations and had increased their presence in border areas.
He also said there had been an uptick in sabotage and intelligence gathering operations.
Elsewhere, President Volodymyr Zelensky told French media on July 30 Moscow has began concentrating its efforts in the east, "throwing everything they have" in the Pokrovsk direction.
Ukraine's military acknowledged an increasingly difficult situation in the Pokrovsk direction as battlefield monitoring sites indicate steady progress of Russian troops westward.
"Today, they (Russian forces) are concentrating the largest number of personnel, the largest number of weapons and KAB bombs, everything they have, in the Pokrovsk direction," Zelensky said.
According to the president, Russia shifted its focus to the east after its failure to take Kharkiv.
Zelensky added that Russian forces also plan to advance in other directions in the east, such as Kostiantynivka, Toretsk, or Sloviansk, but at the moment, Pokrovsk remains the main focus.
Olena Zashko
