A “fierce battle” is underway in Kharkiv, with nearly two thousand people forced to evacuate from villages near Russia after Moscow launched a surprise cross-border ground offensive.

Russian forces made small advances in the area it was pushed back from nearly two years ago – the latest in a series of gains as Ukrainian forces find themselves outgunned and outmanned.

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky said a “fierce battle” was under way in Kharkiv, adding: “We must disrupt Russian offensive operations and return the initiative to Ukraine.”

“A total of 1,775 people have been evacuated,” Kharkiv governor Oleg Synegubov wrote on social media, adding that Russian artillery and mortar attacks had affected 30 settlements over the past 24 hours.

The Kharkiv region has been mostly under Ukrainian control since September 2022.

A senior Ukrainian military source said Russian forces had advanced one kilometre into Ukraine and were trying to “create a buffer zone” in the Kharkiv and neighbouring Sumy regions to prevent attacks on Russian territory.

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