In Ukraine, troops are engaged  in intense battles near the border in the eastern and north-eastern region of the state. Meanwhile, Russia today claimed that they have entered the north-eastern border town of Vovchansk, near Kharkiv, the second largest city of Ukraine. Russia also took control of at least nine villages and municipalities, following its surprise border incursion on Friday.

However, according to the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, heavy fighting is still going on as outgunned and outnumbered Ukrainian soldiers try to push back the significant Russian ground offensive. Nearly 6,000 people have been evacuated in the region, Ukranian officials said.

Russia’s advancement in the Kharkiv area could disrupt the major Ukrainian Ground Lines of Control, GLOC, connecting Kharkiv Oblast to northern Donetsk Oblast. This would compel the Ukrainian forces to reorient GLOCs towards Slovyansk from the northwest and west along smaller country roads or longer routes.

Meanwhile, Russia further said that at least 15 people were killed and many injured in the Russian border city of Belgorod, when an apartment block fell down after it was struck by the fragments of a Ukrainian missile which had been shot down.