Kremlin denies offensive on Ukraine’s northeast failed

The Kremlin on Wednesday denied a major ground offensive on Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region had failed, after Russian officials said they would seal off border villages to protect civilians from Ukrainian shelling.

Russia in May launched a surprise assault into the Kharkiv region, which sits across the border from Russia’s Belgorod region, in a bid to push Ukrainian forces back and establish what President Vladimir Putin called a “security zone”.

But on Tuesday, Belgorod’s regional governor announced that civilian access to 14 Russian border villages would be restricted given the ongoing intensity of Ukrainian cross-border attacks.

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Asked on Wednesday whether that decision meant the Kharkiv offensive had failed, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: “No, it doesn’t.”

“This operation is ongoing, it will continue until it has been successfully completed,” he told reporters in a briefing call.

“But while it has not been completed, barbaric attacks by the Kyiv regime on civilian infrastructure continue. In order to take the necessary measures to ensure the safety of the population, new practices are being introduced,” he added.

Belgorod Governor Vyacheslav Gladkov said Tuesday that over 200 people had been killed and hundreds more wounded in the region since Moscow launched its full-scale military offensive in February 2022.

He said entry to the border area would be limited from next Tuesday, with only adult men wearing bullet-proof vests and helmets permitted to pass through checkpoints.

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Kyiv has stepped up attacks on Russian territory throughout the conflict.

It says these are justified responses to Moscow’s aggression.

Last week, Ukrainian strikes on the Belgorod region killed four people in one 24-hour period, while 20 more were injured.

Ukraine was forced to scramble troops to reinforce the Kharkiv area after Moscow launched the offensive in May.

Russian troops have since claimed a number of modest territorial gains in the eastern Donetsk region, and independent military analysts said Russia’s real goal could have been to force Ukraine to divert troops away from other areas of the front line.

© Agence France-Presse