Kiev, 13 May 2024 – Moscow hammers the region of Kharkiv. There city of Vovchansk (17 thousand inhabitants before the war) is “transforming” into Bakhmut or Maryinka due to the continuous air attacks by the Russians: this was stated by the head of the police of the region, Volodymyr Tymoshko, as reported by RBC-Ukraine. In the three days since the start of the Russian offensive, Vovchansk “has suffered as it has not suffered since 2022,” Tymoshko said. In particular, the Russians use a large number of Guided aerial bombs to attack the city. It is a tool that has seen increasing use by Moscow on the battlefield in other areas of the country as well. “AND’ a bomb weighing 250 or even 500 kilograms, which can demolish a multi-story building. In a way, Vovchansk is turning into Bakhmut or Maryinka,” she emphasized.
A family with children evacuated from Vovchansk (photo Ansa)
According to Tymoshko, the enemy’s target is not only the Ukrainian army, but also the police and rescue workers. Therefore, armored vehicles are involved in the evacuation of civilians. According to the police chief of the Kharkiv region, the Russians use scorched earth tactics, when a certain territory is shelled with artillery and anti-aircraft guns before the entry of troops.
Vovchansk, the map of the city that risks becoming the new Bakhmut
Some of more ferocious fighting they’re actually taking place on the outskirts of Vovchansk. Both Ukrainian and Russian sources confirmed that Moscow’s troops advanced to the edges of the city, where gunfire was reported in industrial areas. “At the moment the enemy has a tactical success” in the fight for Vovchansk, the Ukrainian General Staff admitted in a statement on social media.
Vovchansk, the city under attack by Russian troops in the Kharkiv region (Ansa)
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In the last 24 hours approximately 1,775 civilians left their homes in Kharkiv Oblast due to Russian attacks in the eastern Ukrainian region. Governor Oleh Syniehubov, quoted by the Kiev Independent, specified that 1,048 people have left the district of Chuhuiv, located south-east of the capital, where Vovchansk is located, around which Russian forces advanced yesterday.
