Ukraine battles to hold back Russia advance

Ukraine battled Thursday to "stabilise" the front line in the northeast Kharkiv region, where Moscow has made its largest territorial gains in 18 months after launching an offensive last week.

President Volodymyr Zelensky said more reinforcements had been sent to the area, and the Ukrainian army said it had partially halted Russia's advance.

But the head of the Kharkiv region said Moscow had gained ground near the border village of Lyptsi and had "not given up" capturing the town of Vovchansk.

"Our task at the moment is to stabilise the front line," said Governor Oleg Synegubov.

Ukraine accused Russian troops of executing civilians in territory it had captured, and of using some civilians in Vovchansk as "human shields".

Late Thursday, the Ukrainian army said there had been "no significant changes" on the front lines, including in Vovchansk, even if some troops had to "regroup" in the Pokrovsk area near Donetsk due to "intense fire and assault actions".

Russian latest offensive has further stretched Ukraine's outgunned and outmanned forces.

Moscow seized 278 square kilometers (107 square miles) of Ukrainian territory between May 9 and 15, according to AFP calculations based on data from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) — the largest territorial gain in a single operation since mid-December 2022.

 'Extremely difficult' 

Zelensky met military leaders in Kharkiv city, around 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the Russian border, to assess Ukraine's defensive efforts.

"The situation in the Kharkiv region is generally under control, and our soldiers are inflicting significant losses on the occupier," he said in a social media post.

"However, the area remains extremely...