Russia claims gains in ground offensive in Kharkiv region

UKRAINE: Russia on Saturday said it had captured six villages in Ukraine´s east during a surprise ground offensive that prompted mass evacuations, as President Volodymyr Zelensky made an urgent call for military aid.

The Russian defence ministry said its troops had “liberated” five villages in Ukraine´s Kharkiv region near the border with Russia -- Borysivka, Ogirtseve, Pletenivka, Pylna and Strilecha -- as “a result of offensive actions”.

The village of Keramik in the Donetsk region was also now under Russian control, it said.

Ukrainian officials said that the country´s forces were resisting but there was heavy fighting in the Kharkiv region near the border.

“Fighting for villages... continues in the border area”, Ukrainian military spokesman Nazar Voloshyn said on national television, while “the enemy is currently localised”.

There is “heavy fighting” in the border area and 1,775 people have been evacuated, Kharkiv regional governor Oleg Synegubov wrote on social media.

He insisted there was “no threat of a ground operation” for the city of Kharkiv, Ukraine´s second largest. At an arrival point for evacuees near Kharkiv, groups of people were arriving in vans and cars loaded with bags.