Ukraine war latest: Russia's troops 'partially pushed back' from key town, Ukraine claims - as Putin's offensive 'appears to slow' (2024)

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has condemned the assassination attempt on Slovakian Prime Minister Robert Fico.

Russia's offensive in northern Kharkiv has been the focus of much of the reporting on the war in Ukraine over recent days.

Sky News military analyst Michael Clarke has said the aim of Moscow is to draw Ukraine's forces to that area from the south, thus stretching the country's military resources.

And the latest analysis from US thinktank the Institute for the Study of War suggests that the pace of the offensive "appears to have slowed over the past 24 hours".

The group's experts said the pattern of Russian offensive activity in the area was consistent with assessments that Vladimir Putin's forces are prioritising the creation of a "buffer zone" in the international border area over a deeper penetration of Kharkiv Oblast.

It said several Ukrainian military officials reported yesterday that they believed the situation in Kharkiv Oblast was slowly stabilising.

"Drone footage purportedly from Vovchansk shows Russian foot mobile infantry operating within the settlement in small squad-sized assault groups, consistent with Ukrainian reports," the analysis added.

Two people have been killed after a Russian air attack on infrastructure in the Ukrainian city of Dnipro, the regional governor has said.

Serhiy Lysak said onTelegram that there were a number of people who had been injured, but gave no other details.

Dnipro is Ukraine's fourth-largest city, it sits on the Dnipro River and is around 300 miles from Kyiv.

Within the last hour, the UK's House of Commons addressed an urgentquestion on "Russia's aggression relating to Ukraine and the situation in Georgia".

Ukraine has come under vast assault from Russia in recent days, while in Georgia there have been riots as Russia asserted its influence to see a controversial "foreign agents" law passed.

The question was tabled by Jim Shannon, a Democratic Unionist Party politician, and answering on behalf of the government was armed forces minister Leo Docherty.

He noted today was "day 811 of Putin's 'special military operation' - an operation that was supposed to last three days, and he has failed in all his objectives".

But the minister went on to say the conflict was "evolving", and confirmed Russia's latest assault on the Kharkiv region, which was "almost certainly" a bid to "divert Ukrainian resources away from other parts of the front line and to threaten Kharkiv - the second-largest city in Ukraine".

He declared the UK would "not be diverted from our commitment to provide Ukraine with the support they need to prevail", pointing to the vast package announced in January and ongoing efforts to support the Ukrainian military.

Turning to Georgia, the minister said the government was observing events "with concern".

"The United Kingdom, along with our partners, is of course committed to the right of peaceful protest, as we are concerned by the introduction of the law" on foreign influence, he said.

He added that the UK was "a close friend of Georgia" and called for "calm and restraint on all sides".

Vladimir Putin has said Russian troops in Ukraine are "improving positions in all directions every day" and Moscow's military offensive in the country is "going to plan".

The Russian leaders comments come moments after the Ukrainian military claimed to have "partially pushed back" Russian forces in the town of Vovchansk in the Kharkiv region.

Moscow begun a pressing offensive on the Kharkiv region on Friday, after weeks of speculation that Russia was preparing to establish a new frontline there.

The towns of Vovchansk and Lyptsi appear to be the focus of the offensive, the latter of which could provide Russia with an opportunity to put Kharkiv under an artillery barrage, if captured.

Ukraine's forces have "partially pushed back" Russian troops from the town of Vovchansk in the Kharkiv region, the Ukrainian military has said.

In an update on the battlefield situation, the military said a total of 18 Russian assaults were repelled as active combat clashes rage on in north and northwestern parts of the town.

Ourmilitary analyst,Michael Clarke,said Ukraine was able to push back Russian advances by redirecting troops from military units in the south.

"Parts of their best brigades have been sent north to stem the tide," he said.

Earlier, the head of the Ukrainian police force in the Kharkiv region described the situation in the town of Vovchansk as "extremely difficult".

Oleksiy Kharkivskiy, Vovchansk's patrol police chief, said Russian forces were establishing positions inside the town.

With a second front opening in the war and Russia claiming control of several settlements, it's been an important week for the war in Ukraine.

Readers have been sending in their questions to our senior correspondents and military experts for their take on the changing battlefield environment.

Today, Lamas asked:

Given the impressive success of Ukraine to contain the operational degrees of freedom of Russia's Black Sea Fleet, why hasn't the West supplied the Ukrainian navy with ships in order to consolidate its dominance and pose a serious new challenge to the Russian army?

Military analyst Sean Bell had this to say...

Thank you for this interesting question.

At the start of the Russian ground offensive the Ukrainians scuttled their remaining naval warships to stop them falling into the hands of the Russia invaders.

However, since then the Ukrainians have proven very effective at using naval drones to target Russian Black Sea Fleet (BSF) vessels, forcing the remainder of the Russian naval forces to move east for their own protection.

This Ukrainian operational success has limited Russia's ability to conduct an amphibious assault against the Ukrainian port of Odessa, and has also provided vital freedom of movement on the western edge of the Black Sea to enable Ukraine to continue exporting its grain and provide vital revenues to help fund its war effort.

Late last year the UK Ministry of Defence announced that two Royal Navy minehunter ships were to be transferred from the Royal Navy to the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) in a move to strengthen Ukraine's ability to operate at sea.

As the UK and Norway launched a new Maritime Capability Coalition, Defence Secretary Grant Shapps announced the procurement of two Sandown Class mine countermeasures vessels (MCMVs) by Ukraine through UK export finance.

Strengthening the Ukraine's maritime capabilities, in particular countering the threat from Russian sea mines, was expected to help restore Ukraine's maritime exports.

However, the only maritime access route into the Black Sea is through the Bosphorus straits, and that is controlled by Turkey.

Under the terms of the Montreux Convention of 1936 - which is still in place - the straits are treated as an international shipping lane, except that Turkey has the power to restrict warships' access to the Black Sea.

This restriction applies to warships from any country, whether or not they border the Black Sea, following Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

As a result, although the UK was prepared to bolster Ukraine's maritime capability in the near term, the Maritime Capability Coalition will be primarily focused on helping Ukraine rebuild its military maritime capability once the current hostilities have ended.

The international community retains the ability to donate maritime capabilities that are land (or air) transportable, but for now that will not include the UK Naval Minehunters that can only be delivered once access to the Black Sea is re-opened.

Antony Blinken has said the US remains "deeply concerned" about China's support for Russia's industrial defence base.

The US secretary of state told a news conference in Kyiv that China has so far held back from providing weapons to Russia, but it will continue to sanction against any enterprises that are involved in support for Moscow.

It comes a day ahead of Vladimir Putin's visit to Beijing, where he is keen to show he is suppotred by his most powerful politicalpartner, Chinese President Xi Jinping.

Mt Putin's two-day visit is expected to highlight the pair'svaunted "no limits" partnership in defiance from pressure fromthe US over its invasion of Ukraine.

Late last month Mr Blinken was in China where he warned top diplomat Wang Yi against deepening military supportfor Russia.

Following on from our post below, Antony Blinken has just announced that the US will provide an additional $2bn (£1.5bn) in military funding to Ukraine.

Speaking from Kyiv, where the secretary of state is on a two-day visit, he said the additional fund would be able to provide weapons "today" and invest in Ukraine's industrial base.

"We are rushing ammunition, armoured vehicles, missiles and air defences to get them to the front lines," Mr Blinken said.

The secretary of state said the US was "intensely focused" on providing patriots and other forms of air defence systems, which Volodymyr Zelenskyy has persistently asked allies for.

He said support was coming from the US at a critical time for Ukraine - which is facing fierce levels of fighting in the north - as Moscow targets the region of Kharkiv.

When asked if he would support US weapons being used to strike places inside Russia, he said: "We don't encourage this, but Ukraine has to make the decision for itself."

US secretary of state Antony Blinken has today continued his visit to Kyiv.

He has been pictured visiting a drone production facility and witnessing packages of US aid being unloaded at a shipment facility in the city of Vyshneve.

Mr Blinken also accompanied Ukrainian foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba to a wreath laying ceremony at the wall of rememberance in the capital.

His visit coincides with the start of fierce battles in Ukrainian towns and villages, but Mr Blinken pledged unceasing US support for the country, during and beyond the war.