Key updates on May 17: * Ukrainian drones hit military facilities in Russia, Crimea amid Russian claims of over 100 drones downed * Zelensky says Russia's Kharkiv Oblast offensive advances as far as 10 km, halted by 1st defense line * Zelensky signs law amendments increasing fines for draft evaders, allowing some convicts
Russian troops were able to advance as far as 10 kilometers (6 miles) deep in some areas during their offensive in Kharkiv Oblast, but the front in the region has been stabilized, President Volodymyr Zelensky told journalists on May 16.
Serhii Bolvinov, the head of the investigative department of the police of the Kharkiv Oblast, said on air on Suspilne that up to 40 civilians, most of them elderly, had been taken captive when trying to escape Russian shelling.
Key updates on May 16: * Zelensky in Kharkiv: Situation 'difficult' but 'under control,' Russia suffers losses * Denmark announces more than $815 million in new military assistance for Ukraine * Minister: Russia captures, shoots civilians in northern Vovchansk * Source: Ukrainian drones attack Russian defense manufacturer's facilities in Tula * Partisans: Ammunition depot
Russian forces attacked a village near the town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast with cluster munitions on May 16, injuring six people, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
A Russian attack on Kharkiv Oblast killed two women on May 16, the Kharkiv Oblast Office of the Prosecutor General reported on Telegram.
Tamaz Gambarashvili, the head of Vovchansk City Military Administration, two medics and two drivers are among the injured, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov said on May 16.
Russian forces are taking Ukrainian civilians captive and preventing their evacuation in the embattled northern part of Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said on May 16.
"The enemy's plans to advance deeper into the city of Vovchansk and gain a foothold there were thwarted," Ukraine's General Staff said on May 16.
Ukrainian forces repelled Russian attacks in the Vovchansk direction in Kharkiv Oblast and "partially pushed out enemy forces from the town," the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces said on May 15.
Small Russian infantry units have entered Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast and are trying to gain a foothold in the northern part of town, Defense Ministry spokesperson Dmytro Lazutkin said on air on May 15.
Speaking on national TV, Mayor Ihor Terekhov said around 6,000 people from the surrounding oblast who lived closer to the front lines had been taken to the city and housed in dormitories.
Heavy battles are ongoing in Kharkiv Oblast, but the situation has somewhat stabilized, Nazar Voloshyn, the spokesperson of the Khortytsia group of forces, said on air on May 15.
Active battles are taking place in Vovchansk as Russian troops "take up positions on the streets of the city," Vovchansk Police Chief Oleksii Kharkivskyi said on social media on the morning of May 15.
Serhii Bolvinov, the head of the investigative department of the regional police, wrote on Facebook that preliminary information indicates that the two could have been shot by the Russian military.
Russia's offensive on Vovchansk in northern Kharkiv Oblast killed two civilians aged 80 and 83, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported on May 14.
Up to 300 people remain in Vovchansk as Russian troops "advance in certain directions," Kharkiv Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported on May 13.
The construction of fortifications around the border town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast was "difficult" due to constant Russian shelling, Tamaz Gambarashvili, the head of Vovchansk City Military Administration, told Radio Svoboda on May 13.
Fighting is ongoing for Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast, as Ukrainian troops are attempting to fend off Russia's attempt to capture the city, the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces reported on May 13.
VOVCHANSK, KHARKIV OBLAST – The glide bombs arrive in groups of three. Their flight can be heard from far away, but only in the last second before impact is it clear where it will hit. The explosions, orders of magnitude more powerful than regular artillery shells, shake the ground where the
Around 500 people remain in the city of Vovchansk, close to the Russian border. Earlier in the day, two casualties were reported in Vovchansk and the nearby village Liptsy.
Russian troops attacked 27 settlements in Kharkiv Oblast over the past day, killing three people and injuring six, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported on May 12.
Russia attacked the Vovchansk community in Kharkiv Oblast on May 11 with aerial bombs, rocket launchers, artillery, and drones, killing two civilians and injuring two others, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported.
There are ongoing battles for "gray zone" border settlements of Strilecha, Pylne, and Borysivka, as well as in the sectors of Oliinykove and Ohirtseve, the General Staff said.
In turn, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov said on national television on national television that no territory was lost at the moment. He clarified that settlements in the border areas are a "grey zone" and that active hostilities are ongoing there.
A Russian drone attack on a truck in Kharkiv Oblast injured a 52-year-old truck driver, Kharkiv Oblast Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported on April 27.
Russia attacked the city of Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast on April 20, killing two men, injuring another man and a woman, the regional Prosecutor's Office reported.
Russia launched an attack against the town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv Oblast on April 1, injuring a 27-year-old woman, Governor Oleh Syniehubov said.
A 65-year-old man was killed after Russian forces attacked Vovchansk at around 1 p.m. local time, according to Governor Oleh Syniehubov.
A house, a shop, a five-story building, and a two-story building were reportedly damaged in the attack. A fire broke out in the house but was put out by first responders.
Russian attacks against Kharkiv Oblast during the afternoon injured four people, Governor Oleh Syniehubov reported on Telegram on March 11.
A 40-year-old woman was killed after the guided aerial bomb directly struck her home, and a 67-year-old woman suffered light injuries and did not need to be hospitalized, Governor Oleh Synehiubov said.
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