Zelensky seeks to boost troop morale with visit to Kharkiv as soldiers battle Putin’s advancing forces

Askold Krushelnycky reports from Ukraine’s second city, where the country’s president met with generals. Residents say they will dig in if Putin’s forces get close to support the soldiers fighting on the front line

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky sought to boost the morale of his troops with a visit to the northeastern city of Kharkiv – with Russian forces making advances across the region.

Kyiv has rushed military units from other parts of the 600-mile front lines to shore up its forces in the area where the Russians launched their attack a week ago, exploiting weak fortifications and undergunned Ukrainian forces to make rapid advances which have sent thousands of refugees fleeing from their homes.

Vladimir Putin’s forces have made inroads of at least several kilometres into the north of Kharkiv region since Friday, with the city of Kharkiv itself only about 30 miles from the border with Russia.

“The [situation] remains extremely difficult – we are strengthening our units,” Mr Zelensky said after holding a meeting in the city with his top commander and senior military leaders.

Ukraine’s immediate goal is to prevent the Russians from consolidating their gains and using the territory they have taken so far – around 50 square miles in two enclaves – as a platform to spread further into Ukraine.

Although the Ukrainian military admitted that it had pulled back its forces from some areas “to preserve life” – code for a retreat – positions along the general staff said on Thursday that Ukrainian lines, for the most part, had held their lines in the previous 24 hours.

Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelensky attends a meeting with top military officials as he visits the Kharkiv region (via Reuters)

But the Russians were continuing to press hard with human wave assaults backed by armoured vehicles. Some troops were using quad “dune buggy” type vehicles and motorcycles to approach more quickly and to dodge drones operated by Ukrainian soldiers behind the lines.

Vital artillery and rocket systems ammunition have dwindled to disastrously low levels because of an impasse in the US Congress that had blocked American military aid for more than six months. Weapons are on their way now, with some arriving but not yet in the numbers needed.

Previously, Ukraine had been able to compensate for being vastly outnumbered in men and artillery shells by the Russians because their Western-supplied weapons and munitions were far more accurate. But as supplies have run low, the Russians have been able to fire up to 10 shells for every one of Ukraine’s. Russia’s forces, previously held back by Ukrainian artillery, have therefore been able to make headway– although still at tremendous cost in casualties.

The general staff of Ukraine’s armed forces said on Thursday there had been 140 attacks in Kharkiv and other areas, with Ukrainian defenders often staving off the Russians in close-quarter fighting.

A general staff statement said that Ukrainians must hold their positions at all costs. A Ukrainian colonel told The Independent that it would be disastrous if Russian forces came close enough to allow their artillery to freely shell Kharkiv city.

Zelensky met with wounded servicemen during his visit to Kharkiv (via Reuters)

A Russian priority in its invasion has been to capture Kharkiv city. Kyiv and Western intelligence believe Moscow has too few men and weapons to take Kharkiv. But failing that, Moscow has made clear it wants to pummel the city into an uninhabitable “grey zone” and force its 800,00 remaining population to flee.

There has been particularly heavy fighting in the town of Vovchansk, close to the Russian border, where, according to Ukrainian police, Russian forces have partly entered and there is street fighting.

Battlefield losses and sheer exhaustion mean Ukraine has few reserves it can deploy. Fresh replacements have been slow in coming because of a muddled military draft policy which forbids recruitment of men younger than 25. Until recently, nobody under 27 could be drafted, although the military will take volunteers as young as 18.

As the battles rage to the north of the city of Kharkiv, the Russians have continued attacking with “glide bombs” – some weighing more than a ton – launched by planes within Russian territory and out of reach of Ukrainian air defences, as well as by drones and missiles.

The missiles have so little distance to travel that there is often no warning by sirens and the first people know of an attack is the noise of explosions. Multiple missiles hit targets near the city centre on Wednesday and Thursday.

Vovchansk area residents, who fled due to Russian military strikes, gather at an evacuation centre compound in Kharkiv region (Reuters)

However, the city’s streets are full of people and vehicles. On Thursday, four women city council workers were planting flowers on pavement flowerbeds near Kharkiv’s largest university building.

The leader of the group, Lyudmyla Termakova, said: “Of course we are scared. But this is our job and everyone does what they can. We want to make our beautiful city pretty despite the Russians trying to kill and destroy us.

“Everyone wants to live in peace and harmony. But we don’t want to live as part of Russia. None of us will flee if the Russians try to take our city again.”

She declared: “We can’t shoot if the Russians come here but we can dig and we will go to the front lines and dig trenches for our fighters.”

Thursday also marked the day that Ukrainians celebrate the embroidery that decorates traditional blouses and shirts. One woman wearing an embroidered blouse was Liliya Zotova, a lecturer in psychology.

She said: “This is our city that we love and we are going to defend it. Putin has tried to distort history with his lies and has created a narrative that Ukraine does not have a separate identity. But it has a rich and wonderful history, older than that of Moscow’s. Our embroidery is a distinctive part of our culture and traditions and it’s more important than ever to celebrate it today.”

When asked to give an opinion about Putin she said: “Anyone who has been in power as long as he has comes to believe that they are infallible and destined to order the world around them ... But as to what’s going on in his head – I won’t hazard an opinion except to say it’s not good.”