Ukraine officer on Kharkiv sector: Russia pushing hard to create "buffer zone"

Although the Russian occupation army has an incomplete set of forces and means, it is trying to create a so-called "sanitary zone" and push Ukrainian units further away from the border, the former spokesman of the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, officer of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Vladyslav Selezniov told LIGA.net, commenting on the intensification of the enemy's offensive in the Kharkiv sector.

"The enemy is trying to create a so-called 'sanitary zone' and, accordingly, to push our units as far as possible from the borders of Ukraine with Russia. They are pushing on a large scale. The first stage was as follows: with air and artillery support, the Russians invaded our border, which was a 'gray zone'. The enemy moved forward, and now, according to the monitoring channels, they are attacking us, we are attacking them," he said.

Selezniov stated that yesterday 21 settlements came under fire from enemy artillery and aviation. This indicates that the occupants are conducting artillery training at two footholds: near Vovchansk and in four other settlements west of it.

"In other words, the enemy is probing our defenses, looking for weak points to understand where to attack. On the positive side, the Defense Forces recently received a batch of artillery shells, and not only in this but also in other sections, the enemy is being 'hit in the nuts,'" the former General Staff spokesman said.

Selozniov is convinced that the Russians are trying to stretch the strategic reserves of the Ukrainian army as much as possible.

"They are synchronously pushing in the area of Staromaiorske, Robotyne in the Zaporizhzhia sector and, accordingly, in the north of the Kharkiv Oblast. In addition, the situation in the Synkivka area is quite dynamic – the enemy is advancing there as well," the military said.

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