Russian troops have launched a ground offensive in the direction of Kharkiv early on Friday, advancing one kilometer near the border town of Volchansk and trying to create a buffer zone, Reuters reported, citing a senior Ukrainian military source.
According to an unnamed source, Russian troops are seeking to push Ukrainian armed forces 10 kilometers from the Russian border, and Ukrainian forces are trying to contain this advance.
This attempt to advance under the cover of armored vehicles essentially opens a new front in the war, writes Reuters.
The head of the regional administration of the city of Volchansk, Tamaz Gambarishvili, said in an interview with "Hromadske Radio" that due to the sharply increased Russian shelling, the authorities began a voluntary evacuation of the residents of Volchansk and neighboring areas, the BBC quoted him as saying.
"We are now evacuating the population at will. "The majority of people are already leaving in their own vehicles, but now we, together with the humanitarian center, are organizing the evacuation of the people who are unable to leave on their own," he said.
Gambarishvili said that now about 3 thousand people live in the city of Volchansk. Before the war, its population was about 17 thousand people. The city of Volchansk is located in the Chuguev district of the Kharkiv region, right on the border with Russia.
According to Gambarishvili, people are being taken out of Volchansk and nearby settlements, which are now under massive shelling, and taken to Kharkiv.
"Now there is a massive shelling of the city. As the locals say, they have never heard or seen anything like it. Massive shelling of the entire settlement, the entire city. That's why it's dangerous to be there now," he says.
As Gambarishvili said, shelling of Volchansk is carried out constantly, but since three o'clock in the morning on Friday it has sharply intensified. At the same time, the Russian military used rocket launchers, artillery and guided bombs.
He added that there was a lot of destruction as a result of the shelling, but there were no reports of injuries or deaths.
The Ukrainian military department commented on reports of worsening of the situation in the northern part of the Kharkiv region. Earlier, both Russian and Ukrainian military sources reported an attempt by Russian troops to advance from the Belgorod region towards Ukrainian border villages.
According to the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, during the past 24 hours in the Volchan area, the Russian army carried out airstrikes with guided bombs, and at the beginning of the night it increased the artillery fire on the front line of defense.
"At approximately 5 am there was an attempt by the enemy to break through our defense line under the cover of armored vehicles. At the moment, these attacks have been repelled and fighting of varying intensity continues," the message said.
According to the Ukrainian military department, spare parts have been sent to strengthen the defense of this section of the front.
The President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed that the Ukrainian armed forces are trying to stop the Russian offensive in the Kharkiv region.
"At 7-8 in the morning there was a fierce artillery battle. At that moment, the Russian offensive was stopped," the president of Ukraine said.
According to Zelensky, the Ukrainian armed forces were ready for such a development of events.
"Ukraine met them there with our troops, brigades and artillery. It is important that they can increase and withdraw forces in this direction, but our military, our command knew about this and calculated their forces to meet the enemy with fire. Now there is a fierce battle in this direction, we met them with fire," Zelensky said.
The head of the regional administration of the Kharkiv region, Oleg Sinegubov, said that the Russian military has increased shelling in the northern part of the region and is "attacking the city of Volchansk".
Sinegubov said that shelling continued throughout the night with artillery, MLRS and guided bombs, and "there were also unsuccessful attempts by DRGs [sabotage-reconnaissance groups - Ed.] to break through the border.
"The Armed Forces of Ukraine are confidently holding their positions: not a single meter has been lost. The enemy group does not pose a threat to Kharkiv, its forces are sufficient only for provocations in the northern direction," Sinegubov wrote.
On Friday morning, several Russian militarist Telegram channels announced the beginning of offensive actions of the Russian army in the Volchansk region. Some channels write about the "breakthrough" of the Russian army and the "takeover" in some settlements. This information cannot be independently verified.
The BBC is unable to verify the statements of representatives of the warring parties in a timely manner.