Ukraine has pulled back troops near several villages in the northeastern Kharkiv region where Russian forces have been advancing and pounding settlements along the border since last week. Moscow launched a surprise major ground assault on the region as Kyiv struggles for arms and manpower.
The Ukrainian military announced that units around Lukyantsi and Vovchansk moved to more advantageous positions in response to enemy fire and assaults from ground troops. Throughout the two-year war, both sides typically use the language of moving to more advantageous positions to signify retreats.
The villages, around 30 kilometers apart near the border with Russia, have been targeted in the fresh offensive. Ukraine’s General Staff said the situation remains difficult but insisted that its forces were not allowing the Russian occupiers to gain a foothold.
Kyiv has rushed reinforcements to the area to prevent Russia from punching through. Some military analysts speculate that Moscow may be trying to force Ukraine to divert troops from other areas of the front line, such as around the strategic town of Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region, where Russia has also been advancing.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky noted that Donetsk and Kharkiv regions are where it is most difficult now. Kyiv canceled some emergency power blackouts to deal with a drop in temperatures that had put pressure on its battered energy system. State power operator Ukrenergo had announced a series of overnight and early morning power cuts due to the cold weather and Russian shelling that destroyed generating facilities. DTEK, the country’s largest private energy operator, stated that emergency shutdowns in several regions were lifted.
