Russia-Ukraine war live updates: Kharkiv frontline ‘on the edge’ says Kyiv spy chief as Putin’s forces advance

14/05/2024

LIVE – Updated at 15:06

The frontline of the war in Ukraine is “on the edge” as Vladimir Putin’s troops advance on the northeast of the country, Ukraine’s top military spy warned.

General Kyrylo Budanov said “every hour” counted and Moscow’s assault was intended to exhaust Kyiv’s thin reserves across the frontline.

“The situation is on the edge. Every hour this situation moves toward critical. I’ve used everything we have. Unfortunately, we don’t have anyone else in the reserves,” Budanov told the New York Times.

Russian troops captured at least six villages in Kharkiv Oblast last week after storming the border as thousands of residents were forced to flee.

Up to 30,000 Russian troops are involved in the attack after Moscow began targeting the region, Kyiv’s security council warned.

“At the moment, Russian actions in the border area are ongoing,” Oleksandr Lytvynenko, the recently appointed secretary of Ukraine’s security council, said.

“We can say that we don’t see any threat of assault on the city of Kharkiv. But there are a lot of Russians, quite a lot. About 50,000 were on the border.” He warned that “more than 30,000” were involved in the current attack.

Key Points

Frontline ‘on the edge’, Kyiv warns
Up to 30,000 Russian troops attacking Kharkiv, Kyiv says
Ukraine’s soldiers battle to stop Putin’s forces around Kharkiv
Antony Blinken reaches Kyiv to demonstrate ‘unwavering support'
US and Ukraine speak about frontline situation over phone

Frontline ‘on the edge’, Kyiv warns

15:01 , Alexander Butler

The frontline of the war in Ukraine is “on the edge” as Vladimir Putin’s troops advance on the northeast of the country, Ukraine’s top military spy warned.

General Kyrylo Budanov said “every hour” counted and Moscow’s assault was intended to exhaust Kyiv’s thin reserves across the frontline.

France to deliver extra military aid to Ukraine in coming days

15:00 , Alexander Butler

France will deliver extra military aid to Ukraine in coming days and weeks, the Elysee said in a statement on Tuesday, after french president Emmanuel Macron spoke with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy over the phone.

“The president of the Republic reiterated France’s determination to provide all the necessary support. He was also able to detail the deliveries for the coming days and weeks in support of the Ukrainian military effort”, the statement said.

It comes as US secretary of state Anthony Blinken made an unannounced visit to Kyiv to provide “strong reassurance” over military aid.

russia-ukraine war live updates: kharkiv frontline ‘on the edge’ says kyiv spy chief as putin’s forces advance

French President Emmanuel Macron said France would deliver extra military aid to Ukraine over the next few days and weeks (PA Wire)

'Extremely difficult' for Ukraine to hold ground against Russian forces

14:08 , Alexander Butler

Ukraine’s defence minister says it is “extremely difficult” for troops to hold ground in Ukraine as they remain outgunned by Russian forces.

Rustem Umerov made a renewed plea for more shells and military supplies as Russia intensifies its offensive in the country’s northeast.

“We need more artillery shells as Russia is still many times ahead,” he told the Copenhagen Democracy Summit 2024 in an online address. Under such conditions it’s extremely difficult to hold the ground.”

Up to 7,000 have fled Kharkiv, officials say

13:30 , Alexander Butler

Up to 7,000 Ukrainians have fled Kharkiv amid a massive Russian advance on the region, according to the city’s governor.

The majority of the evacuations took place in the Chuhuiv and Kharkiv districts, he said. In the Sumy region, which borders Kharkiv, a “voluntary evacuation” order has been put in place for several towns where attacks have increased and the military expect Russia to launch an assault on next.

“This is not a forced evacuation, but an early voluntary evacuation from those settlements where the number of attacks has significantly increased,” Sumy governor Volodymyr Artuikh, said Tuesday.

A police officer helps a local resident during an evacuation to Kharkiv from Vovchansk (REUTERS)

Government urged to reopen family reunion route for Ukrainian refugees as children kept from parents

13:00 , Alexander Butler

Government urged to reopen routes for Ukrainian refugees to bring children to UK

Russia claims capture of Kharkiv town Buhruvatka

12:23 , Alexander Butler

Russian troops have captured the town of Buhruvatka in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region, the defence ministry reports, according to Reuters.

The claim comes hours after Russia’s TASS news agency reported the western and northern parts of Vovchansk in Ukraine’s Kharkhiv region had fallen.

Kremlin critic Kara-Murza loses his appeal against treason sentence

11:33 , Alexander Butler

Russia’s Supreme Court has rejected an appeal by Kremlin critic Vladimir Kara-Murza against his 25-year jail sentence on treason and other charges, according to a Reuters reporter at the court on Tuesday.

Moscow-born Kara-Murza, who has both Russian and British passports, has repeatedly condemned Russia’s war in Ukraine, criticised President Vladimir Putin, and lobbied for Western sanctions against Moscow.

His quarter of a century jail term - handed down last year after what he described as a show trial like those under Josef Stalin in the 1930s - was the harshest of its kind since Russia sent tens of thousands of troops into Ukraine in 2022.

Russian opposition activist Vladimir Kara-Murza is escorted for a hearing at the Basmanny court in Moscow on October 10, 2022 (AFP via Getty Images)

Russia to engage all resources to attack Kharkiv in coming days, Kyiv warns

10:30 , Alexander Butler

Vladimir Putin is set to enage “all available resources” to attack Kharkiv over the coming days, Ukraine’s top military spy warned.

General Kyrylo Budanov said the Russian military had stationed small assault units near Ukraine’s northern Sumy region and more reserves were expected soon.

He added that Ukrainian forces would be able to shore up their lines and stabilise the front within the next few days - but attacks in the northeast were intended to stretch Kyiv’s thin reserves and divert them from fighting elsewhere.

Kremlin says it does not see change of defence minister as damaging war effort

10:11 , Alexander Butler

The Kremlin said it did not believe that a change of defence minister and ongoing corruption scandals within the ministry would negatively affect the way Russia is conducting what it calls its special military operation in Ukraine.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov declined to comment when asked about he arrest of a senior Russian Defence Ministry official, Yuri Kuznetsov, saying investigative authorities were looking into the matter.

Kuznetsov, who served as head of the Defence Ministry’s personnel department, is accused of taking a large bribe, the Russian Investigative Committee said.

UK shadow defence and foreign secretaries visit Ukraine

10:04 , Alexander Butler

The UK’s shadow defence and foreign secretaries have travelled to Ukraine to pledge their “ironclad” support for Kyiv’s war effort.

British shadow foreign secretary, David Lammy, and shadow defence secretary, John Healey, visited the town of Bucha and met with war crimes experts who are investigating alleged crimes committed by Russian forces in March 2022.

Mr Lammy said of the visit: “As detailed to me yesterday, the crimes committed by Russian forces in Bucha are heinous.

“The international community must continue to support Ukraine, in all areas, including in the area of accountability within atrocity crimes. Labour is committed to holding the Russian regime to account for its crimes.”

‘Unlikely’ Russia has combat power to take Kharkiv, UK says

09:22 , Alexander Butler

It is unlikely Russia has the combat power to take Kharkiv without diverting more resources to the region, the UK’s ministry of defence said.

A colonel, who did not want to be named, previously told The Independent the present Russian attack would likely be limited - with the aim of establishing a no man’s land between Russia and Ukraine’s Sumy and Kharkiv regions.

It comes after Kyiv warned up to 30,000 Russian troops were involved in the attack on the Kharkiv region after Moscow began targeting it last week.

“At the moment, Russian actions in the border area are ongoing,” Oleksandr Lytvynenko, the recently appointed secretary of Ukraine’s security council, said.

Pictured: Blinken arrives in Kyiv

09:15 , Alexander Butler

US secretary of state Anthony Blinken is greeted by US ambassador Bridget A. Brink in Kyiv (via REUTERS)

Up to 30,000 Russian troops attacking Kharkiv, Kyiv says

09:00 , Alexander Butler

Up to 30,000 Russian troops are involved in the attack on Kharkiv after Putin’s forces began targeting the region last week, Kyiv warned.

“At the moment, Russian actions in the border area are ongoing,” Oleksandr Lytvynenko, the recently appointed secretary of Ukraine’s security council, said.

Putin’s surprise decision to replace his defence minister raises as many questions as it answers

08:37 , Alexander Butler

Putin replacing his defence minister raises as many questions as it answers

Putin to visit China this week

08:26 , Alexander Butler

Vladimir Putin will visit China this week, TASS news agency reports, citing the Kremlin.

The Russian leader is set to visit Beijing and the northeast province of Harbin on 16 and 17 May, according to reports.

The trip is his first foreign trip since his inauguration for a new term as president. He last visited China in October 2023.

Russian president Vladimir Putin, left, and Chinese president Xi Jinping in October 2023 (Sputnik)

Four injured in by ‘Soviet-era’ bombing of Kharkiv, Kyiv says

08:22 , Alexander Butler

Four people were injured in fresh Russian attacks on the battered city of Kharkiv in Ukraine’s northeast, Ukrainian officials said on Tuesday.

A man and three women were injured in shelling by Russian forces early on Tuesday, Oleh Sinehubov, governor of the broader Kharkiv region of which Kharkiv city is the administrative centre, said on the Telegram messaging app.

Sinehubov said that Russia attacked Ukraine’s second largest city with its new UMPB D-30 bombs, Soviet-era retrofitted high-precision guided bombs that behave like a cruise missile.

Both Ukraine and Russia say they do not target civilians in the war which erupted when Russia invaded its smaller neighbour in February of 2022, which Moscow has called a “special military operation”.

Ukraine says it destroyed all 18 drones that Russia launched

08:02 , Arpan Rai

Air defence systems destroyed all 18 attack drones that Russia launched overnight at Ukrainian territory, Ukraine’s air force said today.

The drones were downed over several regions, including Kyiv and a number of frontline regions, the air force said.

The air force also said that Russia launched one Iskander-M ballistic missile. It was not clear what happened to the missile.

Houses hit as Russia’s Belgorod again comes under attack

07:54 , Arpan Rai

A fresh wave of Ukrainian air attacks on Russia’s Belgorod damaged a power line and nearly two dozen houses in the early hours today, Russian officials said.

Russia’s defence ministry claimed it destroyed over 25 missiles over the border region.

“There is one casualty – a woman has received a shrapnel wound to her spine,” Belgorod governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said on his Telegram channel.

He said that about 24 houses and a power line were damaged.

The defence ministry confirmed the attack and said its air defence systems destroyed 25 missiles launched by Ukraine from the RM-70 Vampire (MLRS) multiple launch rocket systems.

This comes after an attack on Belgorod where 15 people were killed and scores injured on Sunday when parts of an apartment block collapsed after being struck by falling missile debris, Russian officials said.

Thousands of civilians evacuated from northeast Ukraine as Russia presses renewed border assault

07:42 , Arpan Rai

Thousands more civilians have fled Russia’s renewed ground offensive in Ukraine’s northeast that has targeted towns and villages with a barrage of artillery and mortar fire, officials said.

The intense battles have forced at least one Ukrainian unit to withdraw in the Kharkiv region, capitulating more land to Russian forces across less defended settlements in the so-called contested “grey zone” along the Russian border.

At least 4,000 civilians have fled the Kharkiv region since Friday, when Moscow’s forces launched the operation, governor Oleh Syniehubov said in a social media statement. Heavy fighting raged on Sunday along the northeast front line, where Russian forces attacked 27 settlements in the past 24 hours, he said.

Thousands of civilians evacuated from northeast Ukraine as Russia presses renewed border assault

Fresh shelling in Kharkiv injures four, Ukrainian officials say

07:30 , Arpan Rai

Four people were injured in fresh Russian attacks on the battered city of Kharkiv in Ukraine’s northeast, Ukrainian officials said today.

The injured include a man and three women, said Oleh Sinehubov, governor of the broader Kharkiv region of which Kharkiv city is the administrative centre.

Mr Sinehubov said that Russia attacked Ukraine’s second largest city with its new UMPB D-30 bombs, Soviet-era retrofitted high-precision guided bombs that behave like a cruise missile.

Ukraine pushes Russian forces from Vovchansk

07:10 , Arpan Rai

Ukraine says its forces have managed to prevent invading Russian troops from gaining a foothold in the town of Vovchansk near Kharkiv.

Russia claimed its soldiers had entered the border town on Monday, and Ukraine is asking volunteers to speed up evacuation of civilians in the town that has become the latest flashpoint in the war.

The Ukrainian military, in its Monday evening update, said it “had pushed the enemy back” from the northern outskirts of the town.

It added it had “tactical successes” in several areas and was restoring its old positions.

Volodymyr Zelensky, in his nightly video message, said Vovchansk town and other border areas had been reinforced. Ukraine’s military, he said, understood “how the enemy operates and... the intention to divert our forces”.

Ukraine has sent volunteers from house to house, pounding on doors to persuade residents still in the town to prepare for evacuation.

Vovchansk police chief Maksym Stetsyna said the town had been shelled repeatedly by artillery and mortar. “Some Vovchansk neighbourhoods are not easy to get to due to constant shelling,” Stetsyna told Reuters. “However, the situation is stable and under the control, we are evacuating people, it is fine.”

On Sunday, Russia claimed it had captured nine villages in the Kharkiv region and yesterday, it said its troops had improved their positions and inflicted losses on Ukraine’s defence forces.

Putin’s surprise decision to replace his defence minister raises as many questions as it answers

06:30 , Kim Sengupta

From beyond the grave, Yevgeny Prigozhin has had one of the main aims of his attempted coup fulfilled.

Russia’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu, one of the Wagner chief’s hate figures, has been removed from his post.

The bitter complaint from Prigozhin and his ally at the time, the Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov, was that Shoigu and his bureaucrats were among those culpable for the shortcomings which saw Ukraine claw back land lost in Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

Shoigu’s sacking was greeted with elation by Russia’s warhawks, the “Z-Patriots”, with Konstantin Malofeyev, describing it as pure “Easter joy” (Orthodox Easter took place last week) and declaring that the move showed that, for president Putin, defence was “becoming the absolute priority of all state policy”.

Click here for Kim Sengupta’s full analysis.

Russian President Vladimir Putin and Sergei Shoigu, who is set to be replaced as defence minister in a surprise reshuffle announced by the Kremlin (EPA)

Sunak says UK position on Ukraine unchanged amid reports of brokering attempts with Trump

05:57 , Arpan Rai

Rishi Sunak says Britain’s position on a Ukrainian peace deal has not changed, after reports emerged that foreign secretary David Cameron spoke to Donald Trump about the prospect of an agreement with Russia.

Lord Cameron met with Mr Trump in April at his Mar-a-Lago estate in an attempt to seek his cooperation to endorse more military aid for Ukraine.

According to The Sunday Times, Lord Cameron told the US presidential contender that fresh aid will help Ukraine hold its front lines and offered the Republican leader the “best possible conditions” to try and secure a deal between the warring sides.

He is said to have asked Mr Trump: “What are the best conditions in which you as president can make a deal in January? It’s both sides holding their lines and paying a price for that.”

The reports of Lord Cameron’s remarks are in sharp contrast with the official line long maintained by the Sunak administration, which states that the conditions for a peace deal are to be set by Ukraine and not agreed by other parties.

A spokesperson for Mr Sunak rejected the suggestion that the UK policy had shifted. “I don’t recognise those reports… our position has not changed. Putin must fail,” the spokesperson said yesterday.

The spokesperson added: “It is crucial, now more than ever in this conflict, that Putin is sent a very clear message that we will support Ukraine for as long as is necessary.”

Mr Sunak also said he has not seen the article carried by the Sunday Times but added: “... What I can tell you is that we have led when it comes to Ukraine.

“Investment in Ukraine’s security is investment in our security. Our Nato allies are already worried about the prospect of if Putin succeeds, that they’ll be next — with all the consequences that would bring,” he said.

Fifteen bodies pulled from Belgorod rubble

05:27 , Sam Rkaina

Russian emergency services on Monday finished clearing the rubble in the region’s capital city of Belgorod, where a section of a residential building collapsed following what authorities said was Ukrainian shelling.

Fifteen bodies were pulled from the rubble, Belgorod regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov said, and 27 other people were wounded.

Another three people in the city of Belgorod were killed by shelling late Sunday, he said.

Yevgeny Poddubny, a usually well-connected military correspondent for Russia’s state TV corporation VGTRK, said in a recent Telegram post that the Kharkiv assault marked the beginning of “a new phase.”

“We’re pushing the enemy back from the border, destroying the enemy in order to deprive the Kyiv regime of the opportunity to use relatively cheap rockets to attack Belgorod,” he said.

Russian apartment block collapses in Belgorod explosion as rescuers search rubble for survivors (AP)

US and Ukraine speak about frontline situation over phone

05:08 , Arpan Rai

Ukraine’s commander in chief and its defence minister spoke to senior US officials last night as the two sides discussed the war-hit nation’s military aid and the frontline situation, Ukrainian commander Oleksander Syrskyi said.

He said the Ukrainian officials spoke to the US national security advisor Jake Sullivan, defence secretary Lloyd Austin and Charles Q Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.

“We spoke about the situation at the front, as well the assistance that Ukraine needs on the battlefield,” the top commander wrote on his Telegram channel.

The call came as equipment and munitions began arriving in Ukraine from a $61bn aid package approved last month after months of delays owing to congressional wrangling.

Antony Blinken reaches Kyiv to demonstrate ‘unwavering support'

04:57 , Arpan Rai

Ukraine’s soldiers battle to stop Putin’s forces advancing around Kharkiv: ‘The next few days are critical’

04:56 , Arpan Rai

Russia is intensifying its attacks around the Kharkiv region – with Kyiv admitting that Vladimir Putin’s forces are achieving some “tactical success” as soldiers warn that the next few days will be “critical” to stop Russian troops advancing.

Moscow’s forces have captured a number of villages and sent thousands of people fleeing their homes. They are trying to broaden the area of its most recent attack, which seemed to take Ukrainian forces by surprise and caused some to retreat from their lightly fortified positions.

The Independent spoke to a colonel from the Ukrainian general staff, who did not want to be named. He said: “The situation is serious and dynamic. It has the potential to develop dangerously very swiftly and the next few days will be critical.”

He said Ukraine “is sending one of our most experienced brigades to reinforce our troops. The Russians are taking very big casualties and I think this brigade, which I know well, will be able to stop the Russian attack from spreading and then push them back or destroy them.”

Askold Krushelnycky reports:

Ukraine battles desperately to stop Putin’s forces advancing around Kharkiv

Biden bans imports of Russian nuclear reactor fuel

04:40 , Arpan Rai

Joe Biden has banned imports of Russian-enriched uranium as he looks to disrupt more of Russia’s sources of income amid the war in Ukraine.

The ban on imports of the fuel for nuclear power plants begins in about 90 days, although it allows the Department of Energy to issue waivers in case of supply concerns.

Russia is the world’s top supplier of enriched uranium, and about 24 per cent of the enriched uranium used by US nuclear power plants come from the country.

The law also unlocks about $2.7bn in funding in previous legislation to build out the US uranium fuel industry.

“Today, President Biden signed into law a historic series of actions that will strengthen our nation’s energy and economic security by reducing, and ultimately eliminating, our reliance on Russia for civilian nuclear power,” Jake Sullivan, the national security adviser, said in a statement.

Mr Sullivan said the law “delivers on multilateral goals we have set with our allies and partners,” including a pledge last December with Canada, France, Japan and the United Kingdom to collectively invest $4.2bn to expand enrichment and conversion capacity of uranium.

The waivers, if implemented by the Energy Department, allow all the Russian uranium imports the US normally imports through 2027.

Russian advance could open threat to Kharkiv

04:27 , Sam Rkaina

Russian troops have so far entrenched themselves in the villages of Strilecha, Pylna, Borysivka, Krasne, Oliynykove, Mrakovets, Pletenivka, and from there were launching attacks near Hlyboke Zelene Hatysche, and Buchansk.

The capture of the Donetsk city of Avdiivka in February opened a door for the Kremlin’s troops to push westward, deeper into Donetsk. Russia illegally annexed Donetsk and three other regions in 2022 shortly after it invaded Ukraine, and taking control of all of Donetsk is one of the Kremlin’s main war goals.

If Ukraine isn’t able to halt Moscow’s advance, it could create conditions for a possible attack on Kharkiv, Ukraine‘s second-largest city.

It could also create a “buffer zone” to protect Belgorod, where frequent Ukrainian attacks have embarrassed the Kremlin.

In March, Russia announced plans to evacuate about 9,000 children from the Belgorod region because it was being shelled continuously.

US official says Russia concentrating its military might in Ukraine’s east

04:10 , Arpan Rai

Ukraine’s east is witnessing the most intense Russian assault in the current offensive, a US official said, as Russia’s forces also continue to make significant gains near the country’s northern city Kharkiv.

“They (the Russians) are clearly throwing everything they have in the east,” said a US official briefing reporters ahead of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken’s visit to Kyiv.

As of today, Russia controls about 18 per cent of Ukraine’s land and has been gaining ground since October last year, capturing a number of critical towns and settlements.

Last week, Moscow’s troops entered Ukraine near its second largest city of Kharkiv, opening a new, northeastern front in a war that has for almost two years been largely fought in the east and south. The advance could draw some of Kyiv’s depleted forces away from the east, where Russia has been advancing.

Blinken arrives in Ukraine in show of US solidarity

03:50 , Arpan Rai

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken reached Kyiv today, marking the first high-level visit from the US since Congress passed a long-delayed $61bn military aid package for the country last month.

Blinken arrived in Kyiv by train in the early hours today and hopes to “send a strong signal of reassurance to the Ukrainians who are obviously in a very difficult moment,” said a US official who briefed reporters travelling with Mr Blinken on condition of anonymity.

“The Secretary’s mission here is really to talk about how our supplemental assistance is going to be executed in a fashion to help shore up their defences (and) enable them to increasingly take back the initiative on the battlefield,” the official said.

Artillery, long-range missiles known as ATACMS and air defence interceptors approved by president Joe Biden on 24 April were already reaching the Ukrainian forces, the official said.

He added that Mr Blinken will reassure Ukrainian officials including president Volodymyr Zelensky of enduring US support and deliver a speech focused on Ukraine’s future, the official said.

Battles ‘dynamic and complicated’ as Russia makes progress

03:27 , Sam Rkaina

The Kharkiv incursion has effectively pinned Ukrainian forces in the region, while potentially drawing precious reserves away from heavy battles in the Avdiivka and Chasiv Yar areas of the Donetsk region, where Russia’s advance has been far more significant and strategically important.

Ukrainian local officials said they feared Vovchansk’s fate may mirror that of Bakhmut and Avdiivka, Ukrainian cities where fierce fighting and scorched earth tactics forced Ukrainian withdrawals.

Russian forces were inching closer to Vovchansk, and heavy battles were ongoing on the town’s outskirts.

Using assault infantry units Russian forces are attempting to secure positions in three directions, as Ukrainian forces attempt to dislodge them using firepower. Ukrainian commanders describe the battles as dynamic and complicated.

US aid to Ukraine starting to trickle in

02:27 , Sam Rkaina

Small batches of U.S. military aid have started to trickle into the front line in the form of much-needed artillery, said Federenko, whose unit received some of the aid.

But it will take at least two months before incoming supplies will meet Kyiv’s needs to hold the line, he said. Until they arrive, Ukraine won’t be able to seize the battlefield initiative, he said.

“They now have an opportunity to attack us while we cannot properly reply,” he said.

Russia’s offensive seeks to take advantage of this window of time. “In order to achieve success, in my opinion, in Donetsk and Luhansk regions, the enemy needed to spread ... our defense forces.

Accordingly, the enemy started the campaign in Kharkiv region specifically,” Federenko said.

Top Biden administration officials and Ukrainian national security officials held a 90-minute call on Monday to discuss the situation on the ground in Ukraine as Russia intensifies its bombardment around Kharkiv.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan, Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, and Gen. CQ Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff spoke with Defense Minister Rustem Umerov, Col. Gen. Oleksandr Syrskyi, and head of the office the president Andriy Yermak, according to Sullivan.

“It was a detailed conversation about the situation on the front, about the capabilities that they are most in need of, and a real triage effort to say, ‘Get us this stuff this fast so that we can be in a position to effectively defend against the Russian onslaught,” Sullivan told reporters at a White House briefing.

Sullivan added that a new influx of U.S. weaponry for Kyiv was expected to be announced by the U.S. administration in the coming days.

Fears for new front in Sumy region

01:30 , Sam Rkaina

Russian forces claimed to have taken an additional 90 square kilometers (35 square miles), though this has not been independently confirmed.

Opening a new front from two points along the border with the Russian region of Belgorod was the easiest tactic to pin down and divert Ukrainian forces from heavy battles raging in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, Russia’s most sought-after prize.

“The enemy identified the most geographically convenient place ... the state border line,” said Yurii Federenko, commander of the ACHILLES battalion of the 92nd brigade. His unit was among others rotated into the northeast from the Donetsk region to stabilize the northeast front, he said.

He fears a similar front may be opened in the Sumy region, which also shares a border with Russia.

The string of villages captured along the contested gray zone, where enemy shelling precludes the building of fortifications, were also the easiest for Moscow’s forces to nab.

Their momentum will likely slow as they approach better-fortified settlements, Ukrainian commanders said on Monday.

Advances blamed on poor fortifications and ammo shortages

Tuesday 14 May 2024 00:30 , Sam Rkaina

Poorly built fortifications and long-term ammunition shortages enabled Russia’s sweeping advance in the area since Friday, local officials and soldiers said.

The Kremlin’s forces were seeking to divert and distract Ukrainian troops across the 1,000-kilometer (620-mile) front line until a big batch of new military aid for Kyiv from the U.S. and European partners arrives on the battlefield in the coming weeks and months, Ukrainian commanders and analysts said.

That makes this period a window of opportunity for Moscow and one of the most dangerous for Kyiv in the two-year war, they said.

By intensifying offensive operations, Russia seeks to stretch Ukraine‘s forces thin and forge breakthroughs.

Russia’s ground offensive in Vovchansk

Monday 13 May 2024 23:45 , Sam Rkaina

Russian troops were locked in intense battles with Ukrainian soldiers around the embattled town of Vovchansk in the northeast of the country on Monday.

Putin’s forces pushed ahead with a ground offensive that opened a new front and put more pressure on overstretched Ukrainian forces.

Moscow’s renewed northeast offensive, launched late last week, was the most significant border incursion since the full-scale invasion began.

In just two days, Moscow has captured from 100 to 125 square kilometers (38 to 47 square miles) that include at least seven villages, most of them already depopulated, according to two open source monitoring analysts.

Vovchansk, among the largest towns in the area whose pre-war population of 17,000 had dwindled to just 2,500 before Russia renewed its ground assault last week, has emerged as a key focus of the pitched battles engulfing the Kharkiv region.

By Monday, only 200 to 300 residents remained, said Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov, as Russian forces closed in from three sides.

Labour pledges 'ironclad' commitment to Ukraine during Kyiv visit

Monday 13 May 2024 22:42 , Sam Rkaina

Labour has affirmed its “ironclad” commitment to Ukraine during a visit to Kyiv on Monday.

David Lammy and John Healey met Ukraine’s defence minister and President Volodmyr Zelensky’s top aide on the visit, during which they travelled to suburbs scarred by Russia’s occupation early in the war and paid their respects to victims in the towns of Bucha and Irpin.

“If there is a change in government at the election in Britain this year, there will be no change in Britain’s resolve to stand with Ukraine, to confront Russian aggression and to pursue Putin for his war crimes,” Healey told Reuters.

As the war grinds through its third year, Ukraine is on the back foot after delays in foreign military aid supplies and mounting pressure from Russia on the battlefield.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak has announced an increase in British support for Ukraine and said he would lift overall defence spending to 2.5% of GDP a year by 2030.

Healey said the Labour Party “matches the government’s ambition on raising defence spending to 2.5%” as soon as possible, and would hold a strategic defence review in the first year Labour is in power.

Before coming to Ukraine, Lammy visited Washington, a key ally of Kyiv, that holds a presidential election in November that pits incumbent Joe Biden against former president Donald Trump.

“I am really pleased that Donald Trump seemed to signal the importance of granting that $61 billion [in Ukraine aid] and what we are hearing is that the aid is now beginning to come into Ukraine,” Lammy said.

Multiple dead as Russian building collapses near Ukraine border

Monday 13 May 2024 22:00 , Holly Evans

Multiple people have been killed and more than a dozen wounded after a 10-storey apartment block in the Russian region of Belgorod collapsed - in what the Kremlin claimed, without providing evidence, was a Ukrainian missile strike.

The region, which shares a border with the Ukrainian oblast of Kharkiv, has been hit several times over the past few months as Russian forces continue to attack across the border.

Footage from Belgorod showed the building collapsing after the entrance to the block appeared to give way.

Read the full article here:

Multiple dead as Russian building collapses near Ukraine border while fighting rages

Putin nominates economist for defence job in surprise move

Monday 13 May 2024 21:00 , Holly Evans

With zero military experience, Andrei Belousov, a wiry white-haired economist and Orthodox churchgoer who enjoys rock climbing, seems an odd pick to be Russia’s new defence minister at a time when Moscow is waging war against Ukraine.

But six sources, some of whom have worked with Belousov, described a tough-talking and professional government insider who once led a campaign to wring more money out of big business for the state, proving he had sharp enough elbows to navigate the system.

In wartime, Russia’s defence minister must oversee vast financial flows and economic and industrial planning while leaving the day-to-day battlefield management to others. Belousov’s ability to get things done - having raised around 300 billion roubles ($3 billion) with a tax on corporate windfall profits - is likely to have impressed President Vladimir Putin.

And his appointment suggests to many that Putin is reshaping Russia for a long war in Ukraine.

“(Belausov) is very organised, systematic, tough. He likes to control everything,” said one government source who has worked with Belousov, who declined to be named because of the matter’s sensitivity.

Andrei Belousov has been picked as Russia’s new defence minister (AP)

Ukraine’s soldiers battle to stop Putin’s forces advancing around Kharkiv

Monday 13 May 2024 20:00 , Holly Evans

Read the full article from Askold Krushelnycky here:

Ukraine battles desperately to stop Putin’s forces advancing around Kharkiv

Ukraine's first lady and foreign minister visit Russia-friendly Serbia

Monday 13 May 2024 19:00 , Holly Evans

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba made a surprise visit to Russia-friendly Serbia on Monday, together with Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, in a sign of warming relations between the two states.

On his first visit to Serbia since the start of the Russian aggression on Ukraine in 2022, Kuleba met Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic and new Serbian Prime Minister Milos Vucevic, whose government includes several pro-Russian ministers, including two who have been under U.S. sanctions.

Ukraine's First Lady Olena Zelenska, left, is seen during a meeting with Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic (AP)

A statement issued by the prime minister’s office after the talks said that “Serbia is committed to respecting international law and the territorial integrity of every member state of the United Nations, including Ukraine.”

Although Serbia has condemned the Russian aggression on Ukraine, it has refused to join international sanctions against Moscow and has instead maintained warm and friendly relations with its traditional Slavic ally.

Putin’s surprise decision to replace his defence minister raises as many questions as it answers

Monday 13 May 2024 18:00 , Holly Evans

From beyond the grave, Yevgeny Prigozhin has had one of the main aims of his attempted coup fulfilled. Russia’s Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu, one of the Wagner chief’s hate figures, has been removed from his post.

The bitter complaint from Proigozhin and his ally at the time, the Chechen warlord Ramzan Kadyrov, was that Shoigu and his bureaucrats were among those culpable for the shortcomings which saw Ukraine claw back land lost in Vladimir Putin’s invasion.

Shoigu’s sacking was greeted with elation by Russia’s warhawks, the “Z-Partriots,” with Konstantin Malofeyev, describing it as pure “ Easter Joy” [Orthodox Easter took place last week] and declaring that the move showed that for President Putin, defence policy was “becoming the absolute priority of all state policy”.

Read the full analysis from Kim Sengupta here:

Putin’s replacing his defence minister raises as many questions as it answers

EU draws up long-term security commitments to Ukraine

Monday 13 May 2024 17:00 , Holly Evans

The European Union has drawn up pledges of long-term security support for Ukraine, assuring Kyiv of more weapons, military training and other aid for years to come, according to a draft document.

The draft, first reported by Germany’s Welt am Sonntag newspaper over the weekend, sets out EU security commitments to Ukraine, which officials hope to conclude in June or July.

In the event of “future aggression”, the document says the EU and Ukraine intend to consult within 24 hours on Kyiv’s needs and “swiftly determine” next steps in line with the commitments.

The document is part of a broader effort by Ukraine’s partners to provide assurances that they will stand by Kyiv for the long haul, with no end in sight to the war against Russia’s invasion and no immediate prospect of EU or NATO membership.

“Building on existing support, the European Union’s security commitments include predictable, long-term and sustainable support for Ukraine’s security and defence,” says the 10-page draft.

Ongoing, fierce battles continue in northeastern Ukraine

Monday 13 May 2024 16:07 , Holly Evans

On Monday, Ukrainian troops were still locked in pitched battles in the Donetsk and Kharkiv regions, President Volodymyr Zelensky said.

Fighting is taking place near the border in eastern and northeastern Ukraine as outgunned and outnumbered Ukrainian soldiers try to hold back a significant Russian ground offensive.

“Defensive battles are ongoing, fierce battles, on a large part of our border area,” Mr Zelensky said in his nightly video address.

Ukraine says Russian troops had 'partial success' near one village in Kharkiv region

Monday 13 May 2024 15:02 , Holly Evans

The Ukrainian military said on Monday it had stopped Russian forces from moving further near the village of Lukyantsi to the north in the Kharkiv region where they had a “partial success”.

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