Eastern Ukraine campaign

Russian forces are reportedly making advances towards the Ukrainian village of Lyptsi near Kharkiv, according to a report by the Russian news agency RIA. The ongoing conflict in the Kharkiv region has prompted Ukraine to withdraw its troops from several villages along the border, with soldiers relocating to safer positions in response to heavy fire from Russian forces.

The Ukrainian army said on Thursday it had partially halted a Russian advance in the northeast, where Moscow has secured its largest territorial gains in 18 months over the last week.

Moscow launched a major ground assault across the border into the Kharkiv region last week, a surprise move that has further stretched Ukraine's outgunned and outmanned forces.

According to AFP, the Ukrainian army has declared a halt to the Russian offensive in certain areas of the northeastern Kharkiv region. This comes after Moscow's forces initiated a new offensive on May 10.

Russia said Wednesday its forces had pushed deeper into the Kharkiv region and also captured the symbolic town of Robotyne further south, one of the only prizes of Ukraine's underwhelming counteroffensive last summer.

Ukraine has withdrawn its forces from multiple villages in the northeastern Kharkiv region, where Russian troops are advancing and launching attacks on a village in a fresh offensive along the border, according to reports from Kyiv.

American military aid for Ukraine is "on its way", U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in Kiev on Tuesday, as Russia pressed on with a new offensive in the northeastern Kharkiv region.

Russia on Monday pummelled more than 30 towns and villages in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region after launching a surprise ground offensive over the border last week, the local governor said.

The Ukrainian army acknowledged Russia was "achieving tactical success" after the ground assault, which sparked the evacuation of almost 6,000 people.

The military commander in charge of defending the northeastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv has been replaced amid the Russian offensive, as announced today by a spokesperson for the Ukrainian ground forces, as reported by Reuters.

Recent days have witnessed significant advances by the Russian army along the border in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, with approximately 100 kilometers of Ukrainian territory reportedly seized. Ukrainian defense representatives expressed frustration over the lack of a first line of defense in Kharkiv, allowing Russian forces to enter unimpeded.

Ukraine vowed Friday to quash a surprise Russian ground offensive, after troops launched a major cross-border assault in the Kharkiv region, looking to chalk up fresh battlefield gains with Ukraine on the back foot.