Russian forces advance 278 square kilometers in 7 days
Russia seized 278 square kilometers in a week in Ukraine, mainly in the Kharkov region in the east, its biggest breakthrough in a year and a half.
Between the 9th and 15th of May, Russia took control of 257 square kilometers in the Kharkov region alone in northeastern Ukraine, the epicenter of the new Russian offensive where Moscow announced the seizure of several towns.
The rest, 21 square kilometers, have been captured in various locations on the front line, including the strategic town of Robotyne to the south of the country.
Russian air defense systems destroyed 10 drones over the Crimea, Bryansk, Kaluga and Tula provinces overnight, the Russian Defense Ministry said.
In another context, Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) said on Thursday it had arrested Ukrainian agents in Crimea and that one of them had confessed to leaking information about air defense systems protecting the Crimean bridge.
For its part, the Ukrainian army announced, on Thursday morning, that it had stopped the Russian advance in certain areas in Kharkov, where Moscow launched a surprise attack on the tenth of May, capturing new areas.
The spokesman for Ukrainian forces in the region, said, “The situation in the Kharkov sector remains complex and is developing dynamically… Our defensive forces have partially stabilized the situation, and the enemy’s advance in some areas and towns has been halted, but he is still trying to create the conditions for further advance”.
