Russia spreads false claims of offensive on Kharkiv, Ukraine says
Photo: The Center for Countering Disinformation denied Russia's claims about an offensive on Kharkiv (Getty Images)
Russian war correspondents are claiming that their forces have launched an offensive on Kharkiv. However, this information is false - the enemy's main efforts are currently concentrated in the Kupiansk direction, said Andriy Kovalenko, head of the Center for Countering Disinformation at Ukraine's National Security and Defense Council.
According to Kovalenko, in the northern part of the Kharkiv region, Russian forces are currently conducting probing actions using small assault groups. The enemy's main efforts there are concentrated on the Kupiansk direction.
"All the stories from their war correspondents that they almost started moving towards Kharkiv now are lies," said Kovalenko.
Russia's summer offensive
Several Western media outlets reported in late March that Russian forces were preparing for a new military offensive against Ukraine.
Ukraine's Commander-in-Chief, Oleksandr Syrskyi, stated that Russia has already launched its offensive on the Sumy and Kharkiv regions.
Recently, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that Russian troops have been on a continuous offensive across all front-line directions for several months. The greatest concentration of their efforts is in the Sumy region.
The Operational Tactical Group Kharkiv also confirmed that Russian forces have been amassing troops, and the summer offensive campaign has effectively already begun.
According to Ukraine's State Border Guard Service, Russia had been building up its forces in the Kursk region for months. Currently, those forces are sufficient to launch an offensive in Sumy.
In the northern part of the Kharkiv region, according to the Ukrainian Armed Forces, the enemy is operating in small assault groups. However, there are no signs that Russia is preparing for a large-scale offensive in that area.
