According to a Russian official, Ukraine is sending troops into the disputed Kharkiv region

The northeastern Kharkiv region of Ukraine, which Moscow has been attempting to annex, was gripped by combat, a Russian official said on Monday. The official also mentioned that Ukraine’s military was pouring personnel and equipment into the contested territory.

The contested territory is being gradually cleared of Russian troops by Kyiv’s military, according to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy. His top commander projected that Moscow would attempt to advance until advanced Western weaponry, including as F-16 fighter jets built in the United States, arrived in Ukraine.

About a dozen villages in the Kharkiv region were reportedly taken over by Russian military after they invaded the area last month.

The governor of the Moscow-controlled portions of the Kharkiv region, Vitaly Ganchev, announced that Russian forces were repulsing the most recent counterattacks by Ukraine in the vicinity of Vovchansk, which is located three miles (five kilometers) inside the border.

“The Kharkiv sector is still experiencing warfare. The fighting is more intense near Lyptsy and in Vovchansk,” Ganchev told Russian news outlets.

“The enemy is sending reserves and trying to counter-attack but is meeting a fierce response from our armed forces.”

Putin, the president of Russia, stated that the goal of the incursion was to establish a “buffer zone” to stop Ukraine from bombarding border regions, such as the Belgorod region, which is located across from Kharkiv.

Ukrainian officials have stated that they have tight control over the Russian advance during the last week.

According to Zelenskiy, Ukrainian military are “gradually pushing the occupiers out of the Kharkiv region” in his nightly video message. Ten Russian attacks were reportedly repelled close to Vovchansk and Lyptsi, according to the military’s General Staff.

Oleksander Syrskyi, the head of Ukraine’s armed forces, stated on Telegram that the commanders in Moscow “were building intensity and expanding the geography of military activity.”

“The enemy clearly understands that the gradual arrival of weapons and equipment from our partners, the arrival of the first F-16s, strengthens our air defenses,” he stated. “Time is one our side and their chances of success will diminish.”

According to military bloggers in Ukraine, Kyiv’s forces were occupying areas near Vovchansk and attempting to breach Russian defenses in order to gather units in the vicinity of the town.

Early in the February 2022 invasion, Russian forces took control of a major portion of the Kharkiv region; however, later in the year, Ukraine was able to retake substantial areas of territory.

The second-largest city in Ukraine, Kharkiv, is 30 kilometers (18 miles) from the border and has escaped Russian control. According to Ukrainian officials, the strikes have lessened over the past several months due to the delivery of new weapons.