Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russian forces have concentrated their attacks in the eastern Donetsk region, and not in the northeastern Kharkiv region, which has been the target of an offensive since last month, reported France Presse, quoted by BTA.
"The main part of the fighting and the most massive attacks are unfolding in the Donetsk region. In fact, that is where the Russian attacks are concentrated," Zelensky said yesterday in his daily address on social networks.
In 2022, Russia announced that it had annexed the area, although it did not have full control over it.
Zelensky said he met in Kiev with the main commanders of the Ukrainian army after returning to his country from visits to several European capitals, as well as Singapore and the Philippines, in recent days.
Russian forces made their biggest territorial gains in a year and a half in a large-scale ground offensive against Kharkiv Oblast that began on May 10. They captured several border villages, forcing thousands of people to flee their homes. Ukraine has sent reinforcements and equipment to the region, putting further pressure on its defenses at a time when it is suffering from a shortage of manpower and ammunition, AFP notes.
The mayor of Kharkiv (Ukraine's second most populous city), Igor Terekhov, reported that in May Russia carried out 76 airstrikes on the city, almost three times as many as in April.
According to some analysts, the Russian offensive in this area may cover up an attempt to break through elsewhere on the front line.