One person killed, five wounded, after Russian attack in Kharkiv Oblast
The shelling struck points near Kharkiv, Izyum, Bohoduhiv, and Chuhuyiv, which are all major economic centers in the oblast.
The property damaged includes residential houses, commercial buildings, and storage facilities, and the shells have caused forest fires to spark, destroying large tracts of local forests.
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In the village of Malynivka, two teens were wounded by the shelling – an 11-year-old boy and a 17-year-old girl. In the town of Pechenihy town, a three-month-old baby was injured, while his 35-year-old mother was killed. One person each was injured in the villages of Zamiske and Zhukovske.
In an area close to the city of Kharkiv, four Russian rockets hit a local storage facility, setting it on fire. Cargo vehicles parked at the facility also caught fire, resulting in a blaze that spread to an area of 2,000 square meters.
Active combat continues in Kharkiv Oblast, though its intensity varies from place to place. Closer to Kharkiv, the Russians are trying to defend their own positions, while closer to Izyum, the Russian army is making attempts to advance and take over the village of Bohorodychne.
It looks likely that Russian troops will use their positions in Kharkiv Oblast to invade Slovyansk, a city in Donetsk Oblast, which would require moving to the south.
The Ukrainian army is meanwhile considering launching a counter-offensive operation in Ukraine’s east, and is currently preparing to increase its own combat capability, and is learning how to operate new artillery weapons that have been supplied by the Western countries.
According to Ukraine’s SBU Security Service, the morale of Russian soldiers fighting in the east is deteriorating. Intercepted phone conversations of Russian combatants reveal that some of them are looking for ways to escape the combat zone and go back to Russia.
Ukrainian troops are accepting the surrender of those Russian combatants in the east who wish to do so. One captured soldier, a member of the Donetsk puppet authority, told the SBU that his wife was evacuated to the city of Dnipro, while his son is fighting as a Ukrainian soldier.
