The Russians continue to put pressure in the Kharkiv direction. The enemy's key targets are known, and the Ukrainian military continues to resist the Russian invasion.
Artem Revchuk, a veteran of the Ukrainian-Russian war and a member of the Kharkiv City Council, told Apostrophe TV about the enemy's key targets and the situation near Vovchansk.
He pointed out that the situation in the region is under control: "The Defence Forces are doing everything they can to push the enemy out of the small settlements they have temporarily occupied in the north of the region."
He emphasised that one should not listen to or believe manipulative statements that are disseminated in the interests of the enemy. "No one is “surrendering” positions and territories, there is no “surrender” of Vovchansk," Revchuk said, adding that methodical work is underway to drive the enemy out of the region: "so we urge the population of the region not to panic."
Regarding the enemy's strategic goal, Revchuk says it is to draw the attention of Ukrainian defenders from Donbas to the territory of Kharkiv Region:
"There may be several aims of the enemy, but the strategic goal of the Russians is to draw a part of the Ukrainian Defence Forces from Donbas to the territory of Kharkiv Region. We can see from the situation on the battlefield that it is not armoured vehicles that matter now, but infantry personnel and FPV drones. Accordingly, the Russians are interested in having fewer personnel of the Defence Forces in Donbas. The logic here is simple."
Another possible goal of the enemy is to create a threat to Kharkiv and sow panic among the population.
"The next goal is to create threats to Kharkiv and, if they succeed, to provoke panic among the population of the region so that they start leaving the region en masse, thereby provoking the threat of chaos."
The Kharkiv City Council deputy believes that in this way, the enemy wants to put pressure on Ukrainian society and the government, as well as on Western partners, "hoping that chaos and an increase in the number of refugees could create additional social problems for the state".
Earlier, we reported that Russians are trying to surround Vovchansk.