(Kyiv) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that Russian forces were focusing their attacks on the eastern region of Donetsk and not on Kharkiv in the northeast, the target of an offensive launched last month.
“Most of the fighting and the most massive attacks are taking place in the Donetsk region. In fact, this is where Russian attacks are concentrated,” Zelensky said in his daily message on social media.
Russia claimed annexation of this region in 2022, even though it did not have total control over it.
The head of state explained that he had a meeting in Kyiv with the main commanders of the Ukrainian army after his return to the country following his visits in recent days to several European capitals as well as to Singapore and the Philippines.
Russian forces made their biggest territorial gains in 18 months with a major ground assault on the Kharkiv region that began on May 10, seizing several border villages and forcing thousands to leave their homes.
Ukraine has rushed reinforcements and equipment to this area, further stretching its defenses at a time when it is suffering from a lack of troops and ammunition.
Igor Terekhov, the mayor of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second most populous city, said Russia launched 76 air attacks against the city in May, almost three times more than in April.
For some analysts, the Russian offensive in this region could hide an attempt to break through elsewhere on the front line.