A team from CNN witnessed intense shelling in the residential neighborhood of Saltivka in northeastern Ukraine, Kharkiv, with a local official saying he believed Russia was stepping up attacks amid a new phase of military operations.
Ukrainian officials have warned for days that they expect a major offensive by Russian forces in the eastern Donbass region as Russia repositions troops and equipment after a failed attempt to seize Kiev, the country’s capital.
the team of CNN was in Saltivka, a district in northeast Kharkiv along the E40 highway, as the bombing intensified. Projectiles and small arms fire were heard before Ukrainian forces alerted the team to move to a safer position.
The bombing was evidence that a Russian advance was underway, reflecting recent comments from senior government officials in recent days, he told CNN a representative of the Kharkiv Regional Prosecutor General’s Office.
Russian forces continued to bomb Kharkiv and its surroundings, hitting residential areas around the region with fire from multiple rocket launchers, artillery and tanks, Oleh Syniehubov, head of Kharkiv’s regional military administration, said earlier. Several civilians were killed and wounded in these attacks.
In comments on national television on Monday (11), Vadym Denysenko, adviser to Ukraine’s Minister of Internal Affairs, said: “From my point of view, this major offensive [no leste] has begun”.
“We have to understand that this will not be a repeat of February 24, when the first air strikes and explosions started and we said, ‘The war has begun.’ The great offensive has indeed begun,” he declared.
Some of the heaviest fighting in Ukraine was reported around Izium, a heavily contested area in southeastern Kharkiv.
Russian troop movements are concentrated south and east of Kharkiv, according to the latest satellite images provided by Maxar Technologies and analyzed by CNN.
Russian officials have said their aim is to gain control of Donbass – where the Donetsk and Luhansk regions lie.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
