The Ukrainian army announced that a unit of the Regional Defense Forces has reached the international border with Russia in the Kharkiv province, and while this army continues its counterattack in the Kharkiv region, it is preparing to face an intensification of Russian attacks in the Donbas region in the east of the country.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense broadcast a video of a group of soldiers in front of a sign of the international border.
The mayor of this province, Oleh Sengupov, confirmed that his country's forces defending Kharkiv had already managed to reach the Russian border, adding that Ukrainian forces had regained control of a number of areas in the province after the withdrawal of Russian forces behind the international border between the two countries in the towns north and north-east of the city.
The command of the Special Operations Forces of the Ukrainian Army also said that the army destroyed the communication routes in the areas controlled by the Russian forces between the cities of Rubezny and Severodonetsk in the east of the country. .
intelligence assessment
Belarus has deployed its forces along the border with Ukraine as part of the exercises, according to what British intelligence announced, which considered that this might prevent Ukrainian forces from supporting Donbass.
British intelligence suggested that the Belarusian president balance support for the Russian invasion, and the desire to avoid direct military participation.
She also stressed that Belarus fears the dangers of Western sanctions, Ukrainian retaliation, and the possibility of dissatisfaction among the military.
On the other hand, the Guardian newspaper quoted NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg as saying that Russia's war in Ukraine is not going as planned by Moscow.
Zakharova holds Europe responsible
For her part, Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova held European countries responsible for wasting the opportunity her country provided to settle the conflict in Ukraine and ensure a prosperous future for this country, as she described it.
In an interview with Russia One channel, Zakharova said that over the past 8 years, her country has proposed an ideal consensual option that guarantees its preservation as a large country, which would have overcome the growth crisis and developed based on democratic principles, while providing alternative ways of development in a wide range of directions.
The Russian spokeswoman also stressed in her speech that European countries bear the responsibility for suspending contacts between them and Moscow.
mutual attacks
In Donetsk, pro-Russian separatists announced the killing of 6 civilians and the wounding of 13 others in shelling by Ukrainian forces on residential areas under their control.
They explained that the Ukrainian forces bombed with heavy artillery and Grad missiles the western and northern neighborhoods of Donetsk, and most of the cities and towns adjacent to the line of contact, led by Gorlovka, Yasinovataya and Ilinovka.
In the context of preparations and propaganda, the Ukrainian president announced in a video published on Sunday evening that his country is preparing for "new attempts by Russia to attack Donbass and intensify its movement in some way towards the south of the country," stressing that "the occupiers have so far refused to admit that they are in trouble."
Oleksiy Aristovich, an advisor to the Ukrainian president, said on Sunday evening that Moscow was transferring forces from the Kharkiv region (north) to Lugansk in Donbass with the aim of controlling Severodonetsk, while the Chief of Staff confirmed Monday morning that the Russian army was massing its forces in Izyum between Kharkiv and Severodonetsk.
Sergei Gaidai, the Ukrainian governor of the Lugansk region, which together with the Donetsk region forms the Donbass Basin, said Saturday that they are preparing for "major attacks in Severodonetsk and around the Lyschansk-Bakhmut axis," describing the humanitarian situation as increasingly critical.