Ukraine has secretly deployed additional forces near Kharkiv several days before the Russians tried to invade the area for the second time since the beginning of the war on May 10. This is what the British edition Sky News wrote after a conversation with fighters from one of these brigades, quoted by BTA.
The commander of the artillery unit of the 57th Brigade, 26-year-old Alexander, nicknamed "Cherny", says his guns even fired at Russian troops the day before the invasion. According to him, the Russians "impudently" have gathered on their side of the border.
"We hit tanks on the border... it was already a real war,” he says.
The commander of another artillery unit also confirmed that the brigade had been deployed in advance to strengthen defenses in that direction. Previously, these troops held defenses near Kupyansk.
An unnamed interlocutor of the publication, describing the first few days of the Russian offensive in the Kharkiv region, said that at certain moments he feared that "we have lost the front line”. According to him, the situation is currently stabilized, but "we don't know how long this can last”.
The already mentioned artillery commander Alexander says that his unit was transferred from near Kupyansk to the northern part of the Kharkiv region on May 4-5. According to him, it happened a little late and they did not have time to prepare well.
"I don't know the whole situation and why this happened, but I know for sure that to repel [the attack], we may need more time or better prepared positions,” he noted.
The Russian offensive began with a three-hour artillery shelling of Ukrainian positions, after which ground troops crossed the border, the military said. They described the front line as initially "fragile" but now, they say, Russia has lost the opportunity to make a significant breakthrough.
"They've had chances so far that we've had gaps they can slip through. I am glad that we were able to stabilize the situation”.