Russia “has been stopped” in its advance on Kharkiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has claimed.
The Kharkiv region had been the target of a relentless Russian attack since May, when Vladimir Putin‘s troops breached the Ukrainian lines of defence.
But after weeks of fighting, Mr Zelensky declared his country’s soldiers had managed to foil the Russian offensive.
He told RBC-Ukraine during a press conference: “In the Kharkiv region, humans or non-humans of Russia have been stopped. Their offensive has failed.
“All experts acknowledge that Russia‘s offensive on Kharkiv has failed. I would say that it was stopped by our soldiers and appropriate weapons. Anyway, let’s highly appreciate the service of our guys.”
Russia dealt a massive blow to Ukraine when it pushed through the border north and north-west of Kharkiv three months ago.
Signs a massive offensive may be on the way had already arisen in March, when Putin signalled his intention to create a “sanitary zone” along the border inside Ukraine.
Sergei Lavrov, who has been the Russian Foreign Minister for the past decade, highlighted that same month the “important role” played by Kharkiv in a similar strategy after the region had been pummelled by Moscow’s missiles that knocked out two power stations.
In the weeks that followed, Russia gathered tens of thousands of men in its Belgorod region north of Ukraine, and eventually launched an attack.
While Kyiv had to retreat from a few villages and evacuate thousands of people, the Russian advance didn’t amount to much and troops remained more than 40 miles away from Kharkiv city.
Putin had already attempted to take over the region in 2022, but Ukrainian troops launched a major counteroffensive in September that year that liberated more than 500 settlements and 4,633sq mi in the Kharkiv region.