{"id":9196,"date":"2024-05-13T19:03:29","date_gmt":"2024-05-13T19:03:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=9196"},"modified":"2024-05-13T19:03:29","modified_gmt":"2024-05-13T19:03:29","slug":"russia-advances-into-eastern-ukraine-expanding-war-front","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/internationalpulse.net\/?p=9196","title":{"rendered":"Russia advances into eastern Ukraine, expanding war front"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Fierce battles rage in Ukraine\u2019s eastern and northeastern border where Russian forces claimed to have seized at least nine villages since their Friday surprise counteroffensive that has opened a new war front into the Kharkiv region.<\/p>\n
Russia “carried out 22 assaults” in five border areas Sunday, 14 of which were still ongoing, the Ukrainian army said, adding that the situation in Kharkiv is “complex and dynamically changing.\u201d <\/p>\n
Kharkiv regional governor Oleh Syniehubov wrote on social media Monday that over the last 24 hours, “more than 30” towns and villages “were struck by enemy artillery and mortar attacks,” wounding at least nine people. <\/p>\n
Some areas were also bombed by Russian aircraft, Syniehubov said, adding that about 6,000 people had been evacuated from their homes in the area since the start of the offensive. <\/p>\n
Only 200 to 300 residents remain in Vovchansk, a border town with a pre-war population of 2,500. The town, in the line of fire, was barraged by “massive shelling” Sunday, Syniehubov said. <\/p>\n
The Ukrainian military said Monday it had repelled Russian forces from moving closer to the village of Lukyantsi to the north in the Kharkiv region where it noted the Russians had a “partial success,” deploying “significant forces numbering up to five battalions in the border town of Vovchansk.\u201d <\/p>\n
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\n<\/div>\nOleksandr, an evacuee from the front-line village of Lyptsi arrives in an armored vehicle at a checkpoint, outside Kharkiv, on May 13, 2024.<\/span> \n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
In the Kharkiv region, “the gray zone and the front line are expanding,” as Russian forces are “trying to deliberately stretch it, attacking in small groups in new directions,” Syniehubov said on national television. <\/p>\n
The Russian Defense Ministry said Monday that the Russian army has improved its tactical position near four settlements in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region \u2014 Vesele, Neskuchne, Vovchansk and Lyptsi. <\/p>\n
Reuters could not independently confirm battlefield reports. <\/p>\n
In the past two days, Moscow has captured about 106 square kilometers (41 square miles) and at least seven villages, most of them already depopulated, according to the open-source monitoring project, DeepState on the Telegram messaging channel. <\/p>\n
The channel, which is close to the Ukrainian military, said Russian forces aim to hold Ukrainian forces in the northeast while fighting also rages in Donetsk, southeast of Kharkiv. <\/p>\n
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in his Sunday video address that the battles in the Donetsk area are \u201cno less intense\u201d than in Kharkiv, adding that the Kremlin aimed to \u201cspread our forces thin\u201d by opening a second active front in Kharkiv. <\/p>\n
EU pledges long-term support for Ukraine <\/strong> <\/p>\n
Outmanned and outgunned, Ukrainian forces are waiting for the badly needed U.S. military aid to arrive, while the European Union has pledged long-term security support for Ukraine in a draft document first reported by Germany\u2019s Welt am Sonntag<\/em> newspaper over the weekend. <\/p>\n
In the document, the EU promises more weapons, military training and other aid to Ukraine for years to come. Officials hope to finalize the draft in June or July. <\/p>\n
Ukraine attacks <\/strong> <\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s Defense Ministry said Monday the country\u2019s air defenses destroyed 31 drones and 16 missiles launched by Ukraine in overnight attacks. <\/p>\n
Regional authorities in the Kursk border region of Russia said one woman had been killed and three other people were wounded when a drone struck several cars. <\/p>\n
Ukraine also struck the Russian-held Luhansk region, according to a Moscow-appointed official. <\/p>\n
The Russian Ministry of Defense said seven drones and four guided missiles were shot down over Russia-occupied Crimea, eight drones were destroyed over Kursk and four drones were intercepted over the Lipetsk region. <\/p>\n
The focus of the Ukrainian attack was the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry said it destroyed 12 drones and 12 guided missiles over Belgorod. <\/p>\n
The attack in Belgorod came a day after a Ukrainian missile attack killed at least 15 people and injured more than 30 others, the regional governor said Monday. <\/p>\n
Russia\u2019s new war economy<\/strong> <\/p>\n
Russian President Vladimir Putin\u2019s move to appoint an economist as its new defense minister indicates Moscow\u2019s intention to build a war economy, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said Monday. <\/p>\n
“Russia is moving almost its entire economy onto military lines. It will be a militaristic country, and its economy will be built exclusively to produce for the military,” Podolyak told Reuters. <\/p>\n
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\n<\/div>\nAndrei Belousov attends a hearing held by the defense and security committee of the parliament’s upper house Federation Council, in Moscow, Russia, May 13, 2024. (Russian Federation Council\/Handout via Reuters)<\/span> \n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n
Putin on Sunday named Andrei Belousov, a 65-year-old former deputy prime minister who specializes in economics, as his new defense minister. <\/p>\n
Former Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu will become the secretary of Russia’s powerful Security Council and have responsibilities for the military industrial complex, the Kremlin said. <\/p>\n
“Without a doubt, these changes that we see today, they are evidence of the complete transformation of the Russian Federation,” Podolyak said. <\/p>\n
Some information for this story came from The Associated Press, Agence France-Presse and Reuters.<\/em> <\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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\n<\/div>\n![\"Andrei](\"https:\/\/gdb.voanews.com\/01000000-0aff-0242-528b-08dc737ba238_cx0_cy8_cw100_w250_r1_s.jpg\"\/)
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