Russia carried out attacks on eastern Ukraine's Kharkiv region in four directions starting Friday, May 10. The Russian advance over the weekend secured two pockets along the border, totaling around 130 km². But despite intense fighting and shelling, the advance is no more than eight kilometers deep and has not broken through the main defense line protecting Kharkiv, where 1.3 million people still live, according to regional governor Oleh Syniehubov.

"The enemy is currently having some tactical success," admitted the Ukrainian General Staff in a statement published on Facebook on Monday, May 13. By midday Sunday, the commander-in-chief of the Armed Forces Oleksandr Syrskyi acknowledged, also on Facebook, that the situation north of Kharkiv had "deteriorated considerably." But, he said, "We know the enemy's plans and react flexibly to their action."

On the battlefield, some troops don't appreciate the high command's anticipating of opposing initiatives. Denis Yaroslavsky, a Ukrainian serviceman from the 1^st mixed battalion of the 57^th brigade fighting in Vovchansk, reported on his Facebook page on Sunday that "fighting in the city has started and an attempted barricade is underway. I'm saying this because we're in danger of dying, and no one may know the truth." The soldier emphasized the lack of adequate fortifications and defensive mining in the area, a sign of unpreparedness and corruption. Fighting in Vovchansk in another unit, another source that spoke to Le Monde confirmed with dismay that "the defense of Vovchansk has not been prepared for" and that "the necessary means are not in the area to block the offensive, while the Russians are deploying more and more forces."

4,000 forced to flee

For several weeks, Ukrainian authorities had warned of an imminent push towards Kharkiv, but assured the public that Russian troops were in no position to take or encircle the country's second-largest city. This new front, which comes after a general Russian push on a more southerly front stretching 400 km from Kupiansk to Orikhiv, forced more than 4,000 Ukrainian civilians to flee their homes.

The main town threatened by the Russian advance, Vovchansk, which had a population of 18,000 in 2021, has seen far greater destruction in just three days than during its occupation by Russian forces in the first six months of the war.

To get from Kharkiv to Vovchansk, 70 kilometers away, you have to take a road that is lined with massive fortifications at regular intervals, their tops have been carefully camouflaged to hide from Russian reconnaissance drones. Next, you have to cross a pontoon bridge over the Donets River, frequently targeted by Russian guided glide bombs (GGB). From the eastern bank of the Donets, the road is deserted and very few fortifications are visible in the vicinity. Over 20 kilometers or so, the road goes through a forest that is sometimes engulfed in flames ignited by Russian projectiles.

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