President Vladimir Putin announced that Russia is not currently seeking to occupy Ukraine’s second largest city of Kharkiv.
“There are no such plans today,” he said at the end of his visit to China.
However, he emphasized that Russian forces were entering the northeastern region of Kharkiv to create a “security zone” for the border area with Russia.
Mr. Putin has talked about such a region before, but his public comments do not always reflect his goals in Ukraine.
Ukraine said the front line was stable, admitting that Russia had occupied a number of border villages.
Russia launched its offensive in the region last week and fierce street fighting has been reported over the past several days in the key town of Vovchansk near the Russian border.
On Friday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian troops had only advanced to the first of Ukraine’s three defense lines in the region.
Similar comments were made by Ukraine’s top commander Oleksandr Syrskyi, who said “the enemy has expanded the active combat zone to almost 70km (43 miles)” in the area.
Overnight, Kharkiv – which had a pre-war population of nearly 1.4 million – was once again subjected to Russian drone attacks and shelling, local officials said. The technological and industrial center is located about 30 km from the Russian border.
Russia’s full-scale invasion of its neighbor is now in its third year and there are currently no signs that the war – the bloodiest conflict in Europe since World War II – could happen anytime soon. end.
