(RepublicanNews.org) – A Ukrainian commander has lashed out at his country’s leadership for the lack of first-line defense in Kharkiv and the surrounding area in north-eastern Ukraine.
Russian forces have targeted Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city, in a series of incursions beginning Friday, May 10th. According to Denys Yaroslavskyi, who commands a reconnaissance unit in the Ukrainian military, Russian troops were simply able to “walk in.” Yaroslavskyi pointed to drone footage that showed Russian soldiers walking across the border without any hindrances such as landmines and said that the lack of such defense was evidence of “corruption” or “negligence” amongst officials. He claimed that weapons promised by officials also never arrived at their intended destination.
As the fighting continued over the following days, Russian forces seized villages as close as 30km to Kharkiv. Some analysts have argued that this is an attempt to draw Ukrainian troops away from the eastern front rather than an honest attempt to capture Kharkiv. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called the fighting “brutal” and his top military official, Oleksandr Syrskyi, said that the outlook had “worsened,” although he would not confirm the loss of any territory.
Around 1,800 people have been evacuated from the Kharkiv area, although hundreds remain in the town of Vovchansk. Vovchansk is close to Kharkiv and the Russian border, and Russian authorities claim that they have so far captured five villages close to it. Ukrainian officials have outwardly remained optimistic that Russia would fail to capture Kharkiv should it launch a direct attack on the city itself, but they have acknowledged Russia’s ability to make life much more difficult in the border regions.
On the same day that Russia began its Kharkiv region assault, the U.S. government announced its latest aid package for Ukraine. The package is worth $400 million and will provide a range of armaments including anti-tank missiles and air defense weaponry. National Security Spokesman John Kirkby said that he believed Russia would look to encroach further into Ukraine and establish a “buffer zone” along the border.
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