Kharkiv [Ukraine], May 17: While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Kyiv was sending more reinforcements to Kharkiv , the Ukrainian army admitted that it could only partially block the Russian advance.
Russia makes its biggest progress in months
The new attack has allowed Russia to control an additional 278 square kilometers of territory in Ukraine from May 9 to 15, according to AFP calculations based on data from the Institute for the Study of War (USA).
Most of the territory recently controlled by Russia is in Kharkiv, while the remainder is in Donetsk and Zaporizhzhia .
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TASS quoted the Russian Ministry of Defense announcing on May 16 that the country's army had "penetrated deep into the enemy's defense barrier" in Kharkiv.
Also according to Russian media, the Russian army is preparing to attempt an attack to control a village called Lyptsi, about 30 km north of Kharkiv city.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian military said that its defensive movements had forced the Russian side to slow down its offensive rhythm north of Kharkiv.
According to Reuters, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on May 16 arrived in Kharkiv city, capital of the province of the same name, to meet with military units here.
"The situation (in Kharkiv) continues to be extremely difficult, we are reinforcing units," President Zelensky said after meeting with the army commander and senior military officials in the city of Kharkiv. The leader postponed all foreign trips amid the worsening war situation for Ukraine.
However, the leader commented that the situation is generally still under Russia's control.
In an interview with ABC News on May 16, the President of Ukraine said that Kyiv cannot lose the city of Kharkiv. He also said that Ukraine could prevent Russia from controlling the city if it was provided with two more American-made Patriot air defense systems.
Mr. Zelensky's trip took place at a time when the Ukrainian army said it was fighting Russian troops in the northern districts of the town of Vovchansk in Kharkiv province, but the enemy was still unable to break through deeper towards this town.
Later the same day, Kharkiv Governor Oleg Synegubov announced that Russian artillery had injured the head of the Vovchansk town military administration. Governor Synegubov did not reveal the injury condition of this person. Russia has not commented on this information.
On the same day, the Russian Ministry of Defense said it had destroyed 600 fighter aircraft and 1,300 Ukrainian multiple rocket launchers since launching the special attack campaign.
"In total, we destroyed the following targets: 600 fighters, 274 helicopters, 24,111 drones, 521 surface-to-air missile systems, 16,053 tanks and armored fighting vehicles, 1,300 multiple rocket launchers, 9,607 field artillery and mortars, as well as 21,753 special military motor vehicles," TASS quoted the above ministry's announcement.
Ukraine has not commented on the above information.
In a related development, Danish Defense Minister Lars Rasmussen announced on X (old name Twitter) that the country will send a new military aid package to Ukraine, mainly strengthening the country's air defense and artillery capabilities. Kyiv government. The aid package is worth more than 815 million USD.
Ms. Julie Kozack, spokeswoman for the International Monetary Fund (IMF), also said she would launch a new mission in Ukraine in the coming weeks, with the goal of assessing the economy and activities of the Kyiv government under the program. loaned this country 15.6 billion USD.
Source: Thanh Nien Newspaper