Oleh Syniehubov, a Ukrainian regional Governor has disclosed that Russian forces are attacking the border of Ukraine’s northern Kharkiv region in small groups in an attempt to stretch the front line.

Syniehubov said, “The enemy is trying to deliberately stretch it (front line), attacking in small groups, but in new directions, so to speak.”

He added that Ukrainian forces were holding Russian troops back but there was a real threat that the fighting could spread to new settlements.

This comes as outgunned and outnumbered Ukrainian soldiers try to hold back a significant Russian ground offensive

The Governor’s comments echo the statement made earlier by Ukrainian President, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who said that Ukrainian troops are locked in intense battles with the advancing Russian army in two border areas.

Zelenskyy said, “Defensive battles are ongoing, fierce battles, on a large part of our border area.”

Zelenskyy added that fighting in the Donetsk area is “no less intense” than in Kharkiv. He said the Kremlin aimed to “spread our forces thin” by opening a second active front in Kharkiv.

He described the area around Pokrovsk region, just inside the Ukrainian border in Donetsk, as “the most difficult.”

The capture of the Donetsk city of Avdiivka in February opened a door for the Kremlin’s troops to push westward, deeper into Donetsk.

Russia illegally annexed Donetsk and three other regions in 2022 shortly after it invaded Ukraine, and taking control of all of Donetsk is one of the Kremlin’s main war goals.

According to the Russian Defence Ministry, the Russian army has improved the tactical position of its troops near four settlements in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region – Vesele, Neskuchne, Vovchansk and Lyptsi.

Russia claims to have already seized at least nine villages in Kharkiv region, opening a new northeastern front in the war.

Russia claims its forces have now entered the border town of Vovchansk, which Ukraine disputes.

The town has come under heavy bombing in recent days, and several thousand residents have been evacuated.

Ukraine’s general staff said late on Sunday, May 12, 2024, that Russian forces had conducted at least 22 attacks over the previous 24 hours in two parts of the Kharkiv region and had “tactical success.”

The Kharkiv incursion may be an attempt to create a “buffer zone” to protect Belgorod, an adjacent Russian border region battered by frequent Ukrainian attacks — to the Kremlin’s embarrassment.

Yevgeny Poddubny, a military correspondent for Russia’s state TV corporation, said in a recent Telegram post that the Kharkiv assault marked the beginning of “a new phase.”

He said, “We’re pushing the enemy back from the border, destroying the enemy in order to deprive the Kyiv regime of the opportunity to use relatively cheap rockets to attack Belgorod.”

Meanwhile, a military command disclosed that Ukrainian Commander responsible for the northeastern Kharkiv frontline was replaced during the Russian offensive.

It was said that the decision to appoint Brigadier General Mykhailo Drapatyi to the position was taken on May 11, 2024. No reason was given.

Russia Ready If West Wants To Fight For Ukraine On Battlefield

Separately, acting Russian Foreign Minister, Sergei Lavrov was reported as saying that if the west wants to fight for Ukraine on the battlefield, Russia is prepared for it.

Lavrov, who has served two decades as foreign minister, was speaking at a parliamentary hearing on his renomination to the post in a new government being formed after Putin started a fresh six-year term this month.

He also stated that peace talks on Ukraine due to take place in Switzerland next month without Russia’s participation amounted to an ultimatum to Moscow.

He compared the situation to “a reprimand for a schoolchild” whose fate was being decided by teachers while he was out of the room.

He said, “You can’t talk to anyone like that, especially to us. The conference… boils down to restating an ultimatum to Russia.”