Combat continues on new northeastern front - but situation...

Combat continues on new northeastern front - but situation 'stabilised'

The Ukrainian military says it has forced Russian troops to reduce the tempo of their offensive in the northern Kharkiv region, where they launched a fresh incursion on Friday.

Combat continues in the town of Vovchansk but the situation is under control, it said.

This echoes analysis made by experts at the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), who said Russian forces have advanced eight kilometres from the border.

"Russian forces have been able to make tactical advances in northern Kharkiv Oblast since 10 May in areas where Ukrainian forces purposefully did not establish significant defensive lines," the ISW said.

Kharkiv administration officials said yesterday that Russia's initial gains were the result of shelling across the border making it impossible to build fortifications within five kilometres of it.

Western prohibitions on the use of Western weapons to attack Russian soil makes fixed defensive positions close to the border "vulnerable and possibly indefensible," the ISW said.

The think tank said Russia appears to be prioritising the creation of a "buffer zone" at the border - on the other side of which is Belgorod - over a penetrating deeper into the Kharkiv region.

https://news.sky.com/story/ukraine-war-russia-news-putin-nuclear-live-updates-kyiv-12541713