UKRAINE’S ZELENSKYY WARNS RUSSIA’S KHARKIV OFFENSIVE MAY ONLY BE ‘FIRST WAVE’

Sat 18 May 2024:

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has cautioned that Russia’s recent offensive in the northeastern Kharkiv region might be just the “first wave” of a larger attack. He urged allies to provide more air defense systems and fighter jets.

On May 10, Russian forces, which had previously seen limited progress, launched a surprise assault in Kharkiv, achieving their most significant territorial gains in 18 months.

In an interview with AFP on Friday, Zelenskyy admitted that Ukraine has only 25% of the air defenses it requires to maintain the front lines amid the ongoing conflict.

He noted that Russian troops advanced 5 to 10 kilometers (3-6 miles) along the northeastern border before Ukrainian forces halted their progress.

Kharkiv’s Governor Oleg Synegubov reported on Saturday that “a total of 9,907 people have been evacuated” from the region following the Russian ground attack.

Zelensky said Russian troops managed to advance between five to 10 kilometres (3-6 miles) along the northeastern border before being stopped by Ukrainian forces, but added that the region could be the “first wave” in a wider offensive.

“I won’t say it’s a great success (for Russia) but we have to be sober and understand that they are going deeper into our territory,” he said, speaking from Kyiv in his first interview with foreign media since the offensive began.

Zelensky said the situation in Kharkiv region has been “controlled” but “not stabilised”.

He doubled down on pleas to allies to send more air defence and fighter jets to combat Russia’s air superiority as the war grinds through its third year.

“Today, we have about 25 percent of what we need to defend Ukraine. I’m talking about air defence,” he said.

Ukraine needs “120 to 130” F-16 fighter jets or other advanced aircraft to achieve air “parity” with Russia, Zelensky said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said during a trip to China this week the northeastern offensive was in retaliation for Ukraine’s shelling of border regions and that Moscow was trying to create a “security zone”.

Russian forces have taken 278 square kilometres (107 square miles) between May 9 and 15, their biggest gains since the end of 2022, AFP calculated using data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Both countries said Russian troops are still advancing, while Moscow’s defence ministry said its forces have captured 12 villages in the Kharkiv region so far.

SOURCE: INDEPENDENT PRESS AND NEWS AGENCIES

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