An agricultural worker operates a combine during wheat harvesting in a field, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv region, Ukraine. File
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Rome, Italy:

Nearly 10,000 people have been forced to leave their homes in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region since a ground attack launched by Russian forces on May 10, its governor said Saturday.

The assault may only be the first wave of a wider offensive, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky told AFP.

Over a week after its launch, “a total of 9,907 people have been evacuated,” governor Oleg Synegubov said.

They were fleeing Russian soldiers who managed to advance between five to 10 kilometres (three to six miles) along the northeastern border before being stopped by Ukrainian forces.

Synegubov said Ukraine’s armed forces had repelled two attempts to break through defences overnight.

The situation was “under control” with “defenders in certain areas conducting assault… and combing operations.”

Moscow has been attacking several settlements including Vovchansk, just five kilometres from the border.

“In the area of the city of Vovchansk, Ukrainian troops are reinforcing their defence,” Synegubov said.

There are about 100 people left in the city where “heavy fighting” is taking place, he added later.

Russian forces have taken 278 square kilometres (107 square miles) between May 9 and 15, their biggest gains since the end of 2022, AFP calculated using data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW).

Russia’s offensive “could consist in several waves. There was the first wave” in the Kharkiv region, Zelensky told AFP journalists.

Zelensky played down Russia’s gains in the offensive but added: “We have to be sober and understand that they are going deeper into our territory. Not vice versa. And that’s still their advantage.”

Speaking about the offensive during a visit to China on Friday, President Vladimir Putin said it was a response to Ukraine shelling Russian border regions.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

Kyiv:

An overnight Russian drone attack on Ukraine’s second-largest city Kharkiv killed six people and wounded 10 others, national emergency services and the city’s mayor said Saturday.

The State Emergency Service of Ukraine said in a Telegram post that “six people were killed and at least 10 injured as a result of an enemy strike”.

Kharkiv mayor Igor Terekhov gave the same death toll and number of injured in a Telegram post, adding the attack had targeted Shevchenkivskyi, a northern area of the city.

Terekhov said Iranian-made drones had carried out the attack, hitting at least nine high-rise buildings, three dormitories and a petrol station.

Oleg Synegubov, the region’s governor, said earlier two men were killed in Shevchenkivskyi.

Police confirmed the deaths and said a further eight people were hospitalised “with blast injuries and shrapnel wounds”.

“Among the wounded are two women aged 25 and 52, and six men aged 23 to 76,” police said.

Police added that there were no casualties in a separate attack on Mala Danylivka, a village on Kharkiv’s northwest outskirts.

Photos released by police on Telegram showed several fires in civilian areas, including near a high-rise apartment building.

Authorities said several buildings were damaged in the attack, including residential blocks and a petrol station.

The attack came as Ukraine’s air force reported multiple groups of Russian drones across the country.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)