• Ukraine has withdrawn troops from several villages in the border region of Kharkiv due to heavy Russian pressure.
• The decision to move troops was made to “preserve the lives of our servicemen and avoid losses”.
• The capture of Vovchansk would represent a blow to Ukrainian morale.

Following continued pressure from Russian forces, Ukraine has pulled back its troops from several villages in the border region of Kharkiv. A military spokesman stated that soldiers had come under heavy fire and moved to “more advantageous positions” in two areas of the northeastern region.

Throughout the two-year war, Ukraine has typically used this type of language to signify a retreat.

As troops struggle to contain the new cross-border incursion, President Volodymyr Zelensky has canceled all upcoming foreign trips. Several towns and villages have come under heavy fire.

Sergiy Nykyforov, his press secretary, stated that the president had instructed to postpone all international events scheduled for the coming days and coordinate new dates.

Moscow has claimed that its forces have now taken control of two more settlements in the region – Lukyantski and Hlyboke – and the village of Robotyne, in the southern Zaporizhzhia region.

Ukraine has not yet commented on these claims.

Kyiv retook Robotyne, one of only a handful of settlements, in its summer counter-offensive last year.

A spokesman for the Ukrainian military stated that they decided to move troops from the Lukyantsi and Vovchansk areas to “preserve the lives of our servicemen and avoid losses”.

Though not of specific military significance, the capture of Vovchansk would represent a blow to Ukrainian morale.

The military spokesman stated that the situation “remains difficult” but insisted that its forces were “not allowing the Russian occupiers to gain a foothold”.

Earlier, Ukraine’s head of intelligence, Kyrylo Budanov, had said that troops had stabilized the front line.

Thousands of civilians have fled west in recent days towards Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv – including from the town of Vovchansk, located 74km (45 miles) away.

On social media, Oleksiy Kharkivskiy, Vovchansk’s police chief, reported that fighting was intense and Russian forces were establishing positions inside the town.

“The situation is extremely difficult. The enemy is taking positions on the streets of the town of Vovchansk,” he said.

Viewed as one of Russia’s most significant ground attacks since it launched its full-scale invasion of the country in February 2022, Kyiv has sent reinforcements to the wider Kharkiv region following Friday’s incursion.

“Additional forces are being deployed, and there are reserves,” President Zelensky’s office said on Wednesday.

As US Secretary of State Antony Blinken visits Kyiv, marking the first senior US official to travel to Ukraine since Congress passed a $61 billion aid package last month, the wider Kharkiv region has received reinforcements.

In the southwestern region of Kazan, Russia announced earlier that it had temporarily closed two major airports after targeted Ukrainian drone attacks. Ukraine has not commented on the strike.

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