Emergency workers respond at the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital hit by Russian missiles, in Kyiv, Ukraine, Monday, July 8, 2024. A major Russian missile attack across Ukraine on Monday killed at least 31 people and injured 154, officials said, with one striking a large children’s hospital in the capital of Kyiv, where emergency crews searched the rubble for victims.
| Photo Credit: AP

A major Russian missile attack across Ukraine killed at least 20 people and injured more than 50 on Monday, officials said, with one missile striking a large children’s hospital in the capital, Kyiv, where emergency crews searched rubble for casualties.

The Russian barrage targeted five Ukrainian cities with more than 40 missiles of different types, hitting apartment buildings and public infrastructure, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a social media post.

Strikes in Kryvyi Rih, in central Ukraine, killed 10 people and injured 37, in what the head of city administration, Oleksandr Vilkul, said was a massive missile attack.

At the Okhmatdyt children’s hospital in Kyiv, rescuers were searching for people under the rubble of a partially collapsed wing of the facility, Mr. Zelenskyy said, adding that the number of casualties was not yet known.

Vsevolod Dorofieiev, the senior instructor of a volunteer medical unit, said some people had died but he did not say how many or whether they were children or adults.

On social media, Mr. Zelenskyy said: “It is very important that the world should not be silent about it now and that everyone should see what Russia is and what it is doing.”

The attack comes on the eve of a three-day NATO summit in Washington, which will look at how to reassure Ukraine of the alliance’s unwavering support and offer Ukrainians hope that their country can come through Europe’s biggest conflict since World War II.

At the children’s hospital, a two-story building was partly destroyed. On the hospital’s main 10-story building, windows and doors were blown out and walls were blackened. Blood spattered the floor in one room.

Medical personnel and local people helped shift the rubble as they searched for children and medical workers who could be trapped underneath. Volunteers formed a line, passing stones and debris to each other. Smoke still rose from the building, and volunteers and emergency crews worked in protective masks.

The attack forced the hospital to shut down and evacuate. Some mothers carried their children away on their backs. Others waited in the courtyard with their children as calls to doctors’ phones rang unanswered.

Elsewhere in Kyiv, the heaviest Russian bombardment of the capital in almost four months killed seven people and injured 25, officials said. The daylight attacks included Kinzhal hypersonic missiles, one of the most advanced Russian weapons, the Ukrainian air force said. The Kinzhal flies at 10 times the speed of sound, making it hard to intercept.

City buildings shook from the blasts. An entire section of a residential multistory building in one district of Kyiv was destroyed, officials said. Three electricity substations were damaged or completely destroyed in two districts of Kyiv, energy company DTEK said.

The head of Ukraine’s presidential office, Andrii Yermak, said the attack occurred at a time when many people were in the city’s streets.

Kyiv Mayor Vitalii Klitschko said official assessments of the attack’s consequences were still being carried out.

Smoke rises after recent Russian air strikes, near a memorial to soldiers who died in World War Two, in the town of Toretsk, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, near a front line in Donetsk region, Ukraine July 3, 2024. Image used for representative purpose only.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

A village in a border region of western Russia was evacuated on July 7 following a series of explosions after debris from a downed Ukrainian drone set fire to a nearby warehouse, local officials said.

Social media footage appeared to show rising clouds of black smoke in the Voronezh region while loud explosions could be heard in succession.

Governor Aleksandr Gusev said that falling wreckage triggered the “detonation of explosive objects”. No casualties were reported, but residents of a nearby village in the Podgorensky district were evacuated, he said. Roads were also closed with emergency services, military and government officials working at the scene.

A Ukrainian security official told The Associated Press that a strike had been carried out on a warehouse storing ammunition in the village of Serhiivka in the Voronezh region.

“The enemy stored surface-to-surface and surface-to-air missiles, shells for tanks and artillery, and boxes of cartridges for firearms,” said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to give the information to the media. “It is from this warehouse that the occupiers supply ammunition to their troops in Ukraine.”

The official also said that Ukraine’s State Security Service was behind a drone attack on an oil depot in Russia’s Krasnodar region the previous day. Russian emergency services had reported that falling drone debris had started a fire at the site, which was successfully extinguished Sunday morning.

Russia’s Ministry of Defence did not address either strike in their morning briefing, but said that air defence systems had destroyed a Ukrainian drone over the Belgorod region.

The strikes come after a Ukrainian military spokesperson told AP on Thursday that Kyiv’s troops had retreated from a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Chasiv Yar, a strategically important town in Ukraine’s Donetsk region that has been reduced to rubble under a month-long Russian assault.

Russian forces have for months tried to grind out gains in Ukraine’s industrial east, in an apparent attempt to lock its defenders into a war of attrition. In a joint investigation published Friday, independent Russian news outlets Meduza and Mediazona reported that Moscow’s forces were losing between 200 and 250 soldiers in Ukraine each day.

Military analysts say Chasiv Yar’s fall could also compromise critical Ukrainian supply routes and put nearby cities in jeopardy, bringing Russia closer to its stated aim of seizing the entire Donetsk region.

Russian strikes have also heavily targeted Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. Officials in Kyiv said Saturday that the city had restored two-thirds of its power generation capacity after recent Russian missile attacks destroyed key power plants.

“Colossal work has been carried out,” said deputy head of the Kyiv city administration Petro Panteleev. “The city’s energy facilities, which were built mainly in the Soviet period, are being modernized and become much more efficient.”

Russia sent overnight into Sunday two ballistic missiles and 13 Shahed drones, Ukrainian air force officials said. All were shot down but the officials did not elaborate on the impact of the missiles.

Eight people were killed in Russian attacks across Ukraine in the past day, according to local regional authorities.

Four people were killed in the Kherson region, said Gov Oleksandr Prokudin, while in Donetsk, Gov Vadym Filashkin said another two people had been killed in the towns of Niu-York and Ukrainsk. In Dnipropetrovsk, a 65-year-old woman was killed in a Russian attack in the Nikopol district, while a 47-year old man was killed in the Kharkiv region, Governors Serhii Lysak and Oleh Syniehubov said in their respective statements.

Elsewhere in Ukraine, 14 people died after a bus collided with a cargo vehicle, leaving a single survivor, Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko said Saturday evening. The victims included a 6-year-old child.

Night attack on Russian positions. Ukrainian infantry on the zero line of the front in prepared trenches 100 meters from the Russian trenches on July 5, 2025 in the direction of Toretsk region, Ukraine.
| Photo Credit: Getty Images

Russia on July 6 said its forces had captured a village in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region, as Moscow continues to advance slowly across the battlefield.

The Defence Ministry said its troops “liberated the village of Sokil”, around 30 kilometres (18 miles) northwest of Donetsk city, the capital of the region by the same name that Moscow claimed to have annexed in 2022.

Also read | Russia says captured district of key Ukraine town of Chasiv Yar

Kyiv says the fiercest fighting across the entire front line is taking place in the Donetsk region, where Russian troops are trying to eject Ukraine’s forces.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday repeated his demand for Ukraine to totally withdraw from the region, along with three others in the south and east of the country, if it wants peace.

Moscow’s forces have made modest advances on the battlefield this year, pushing against Kyiv’s exhausted, outmanned and outgunned troops.

A serviceman of the 24th Mechanized Brigade named after King Danylo of the Ukrainian Armed Forces walks down a street, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, near the frontline town of Chasiv Yar in Donetsk region, Ukraine.
| Photo Credit: REUTERS

Ukraine’s Army has retreated from a neighbourhood on the outskirts of Chasiv Yar, Nazar Voloshyn, a spokesperson for the Khortytsua ground forces formation, said on Thursday.

A strategically important town in the eastern Donetsk region which has been reduced to rubble under a months-long Russian assault, Chasiv Yar occupies a strategically elevated location. It lies a short distance west of Bakhmut, which was captured by Russia last year after a bitter 10-month battle.

For months, Russian forces have focused on capturing Chasiv Yar and its fall puts nearby cities in jeopardy, compromises critical Ukrainian supply routes and brings Russia closer to its stated aim of seizing the entire Donetsk region.

Ukraine’s defensive positions in the town were “destroyed,” the spokesperson said, adding that there was a threat of serious casualties if troops remained in the area and that Russia did not leave “a single intact building.”

The intensity of Russian strikes on Ukraine’s defensive line in the area of Chasiv Yar has increased over the last month and the town that once had a population of 12,000 has been left deserted, Mr. Voloshyn said.

Other Russian attacks in recent weeks have focused on capturing nearby settlements that would allow them to advance to Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, the biggest cities in the Ukrainian-controlled part of the Donetsk region.

The story so far: On June 11, the Ministry of External Affairs (MEA) acknowledged the tragic loss of two Indian nationals who were recruited by the Russian Army amidst the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. The MEA in a press statement said that the Indian Embassy in Moscow has strongly raised this issue with the Russian Ambassador in New Delhi and authorities in Moscow, urging for the swift release and return of all Indian nationals currently serving with the Russian Army.

In February, The Hindu reported for the first time that Indians were getting killed while fighting on behalf of Russia in the Ukraine war. Over the past year, nearly 100 Indians have been recruited by the Russian Army after being reportedly duped by agents with the lure of money and a Russian passport. Contracts signed by these recruits stipulate a “no leave or exit policy” before six months of service, with salaries amounting to ₹1.5 lakh to ₹ 2 lakh per month. In January, Russian President Vladimir Putin signed a decree simplifying the process of obtaining Russian citizenship for foreigners who sign a minimum one-year contract with the Army.

At least 30 Indians have so far contacted the MEA and the Indian Embassy in Moscow, seeking help to return. These tragic deaths highlight a disturbing reality — Indians are increasingly falling prey to labour trafficking rackets after being unable to secure jobs domestically, leading to their recruitment as mercenaries in international armed conflicts.

The MEA’s response

The MEA has issued a press note advising Indians to exercise caution while seeking employment opportunities in Russia. In March, the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) said that it had filed a first information report (FIR) booking 15 individuals and four companies for their alleged role in the “trafficking of gullible Indian nationals to Russia and duping them for better employment and high-paying jobs.” In May, the central agency divulged that it had made four arrests in the case.

Who are mercenaries?

The distinction between conventional combatants and mercenaries is a fundamental cornerstone of international humanitarian law (IHL). A combatant is typically a member of the armed forces of a party to the conflict, whereas a mercenary is recruited from a third-party state unrelated to the conflict. Mercenaries usually engage in hostilities motivated primarily by personal gain as opposed to the virtues of patriotism associated with regular combatants. Article 47 of Additional Protocol I to the Geneva Conventions (API) envisages six cumulative conditions for a person to qualify as a mercenary. The person i) should be specially recruited locally or abroad in order to fight in an armed conflict, ii) has taken a direct part in the hostilities, iii) is motivated to take part in the hostilities essentially by the desire for private gain and, in fact, is promised, by or on behalf of a party to the conflict, material compensation substantially in excess of that promised or paid to combatants of similar ranks and functions in the armed forces of that party, iv) is neither a national of a party to the conflict nor a resident of territory controlled by a party to the conflict, v) is not a member of the armed forces of a party to the conflict, vi) has not been sent by a state which is not a party to the conflict on official duty as a member of its armed forces.

Under customary IHL, being a mercenary itself does not constitute a specific crime. However, if captured, mercenaries are not entitled to prisoner-of-war status or any protected categories under the Geneva Conventions. This allows for their prosecution for the commission of war crimes or other grave breaches of humanitarian law. They may also face charges under the domestic laws of the detaining nation. Nevertheless, mercenaries qualify for humane treatment in accordance with the fundamental guarantees of humanitarian law, as outlined under Article 75 of the API.

However, over time, African states began expressing reservations about this definition, as it only addressed international armed conflicts and overlooked civil wars, where mercenary activities were most prevalent. This led to the adoption of the Organization of African Unity Convention for the Elimination of Mercenarism in Africa in 1977, which included a more expansive definition of mercenaries.

Similarly, in 1989, the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA) adopted the International Convention against the Recruitment, Use, Financing and Training of Mercenaries that criminalised the recruitment, use, financing and training of mercenaries and also promoted inter-State cooperation in this regard. It also widened the definition of mercenaries as provided under the API to include “persons recruited for the purpose of participating in a concerted act of violence aimed at overthrowing a government or otherwise undermining the constitutional order of a State, or at undermining the territorial integrity of a State.”

Limitations of the existing regime

One of the major challenges of the existing regulatory regime is the lack of a clear, unequivocal, and comprehensive legal definition of what constitutes a mercenary. This is compounded by the fact that the domestic laws of most states do not criminalise mercenary activity. Additionally, the definition outlined under Article 47 of the API does not include within its ambit foreign military personnel integrated into the armed forces of another state — such as the Gurkhas (soldiers from Nepal who have served in the British Army since the 1800s). It also fails to establish mechanisms for holding accountable foreigners employed as advisors and trainers.

Dr. Shubha Prasad, Assistant Professor of International Relations at the Hertie School, Berlin highlighted the emerging trend of private military and security companies (PMSCs) gradually taking over roles previously associated with mercenaries. “These for-profit companies provide a range of services from combat to food supplies for troops. The legal framework surrounding the operations of PMSCs is more loosely defined and relies heavily on a country’s domestic legal capacity,” she said.

For instance, the operations of the controversial Wagner Group in Russia have been increasingly subjected to international scrutiny. Despite being registered as a private entity, it reportedly includes Russian army veterans among its ranks. While the direct participation of the Wagner Group has been evident in the Ukraine-Russia conflict, the Kremlin had never formally acknowledged its connections with it. This has posed challenges in calling for accountability and assessing whether the group qualifies as a mercenary organisation. However, following the military corporation’s aborted attempt at a coup last year, President Putin acknowledged that it had received tens of billions of roubles in public money from the government.

“Signatories to the Montreux Doctrine have committed to stronger state oversight of private military and security actors. States are obliged to check whether PMSCs comply with international humanitarian and human rights laws. However, neither India nor Russia is a signatory to this document. That does not preclude India from imposing tighter restrictions on the recruitment of Indian nationals for such enterprises. Furthermore, we need stronger international legal frameworks to safeguard individuals who are coerced or misled into contracting with PMSCs,” Dr. Prasad added.

The way forward

According to Dr. Prasad, the Indian government should develop a robust policy framework to address distress migration and implement strict measures against human trafficking. “India should adopt a two-pronged approach,” she suggested. “Long-term preventive measures should target the underlying economic factors that are driving people to leave the country, while immediate measures should prioritise educating the public and ensuring strong pre-travel vetting for Indians going to Russia or other conflict zones.”

For instance, she pointed out that pre-travel approval from the MEA for travel to Russia could be another measure to check if there are suspicious cases of human trafficking. This will also enable the identification of companies that are exploiting Indians, she added.

In 2012, neighbouring Bangladesh implemented the Dhaka Principles for Migration with Dignity which provides a roadmap for ethical overseas recruitment of migrants. The Nepal government in January banned its citizens from travelling to Russia or Ukraine for employment after 10 young men were killed and dozens more reported missing while fighting, predominately in the Russian military.

A Russian national tricolor flag tops the Russian Defence Ministry headquarters on the bank of the Moskva river in Moscow.
| Photo Credit: AFP

Russia’s Defence Ministry on May 30 said it neutralised 13 Ukrainian aerial drones in the southern Krasnodar region and close to the annexed Crimean peninsula.

On May 30 morning, “five Ukrainian aerial drones were shot down by anti-aircraft defence systems in the Krasnodar region,” the Ministry said in a statement.

Another eight drones were intercepted during the night “over the Black Sea, close to the Crimean coast”, the statement added.

The Russian Army also said it had destroyed two Ukrainian naval drones in the Black Sea that were “heading for Crimea”.

Eight tactical ATACMS missiles were shot down by Russian air defence systems over the Sea of Azov, near Crimea.

Faced with more than two years of Russian bombardments, Ukraine has taken the fight to Russian soil, often targeting energy infrastructure across the border.

Smoke rises over Kharkiv city after a Russian missile strike on May 17.
| Photo Credit: Reuters/Valentyn Ogirenko

The story so far: Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday said the situation in the city of Kharkiv — a town in the northeastern part of the country that has seen intense fighting since Russia invaded the country in February 2022 — has stabilised. President Zelensky visited Kharkiv, located around 30km south of the Russia-Ukraine border, on Thursday and held meetings with officials to assess the situation in the area. “Our counterattacks are ongoing, including in other parts of the Kharkiv border area,” he said in a video message after the visit. 

President Zelenskyy also accused Russia of trying to “expand the war.” 

A brief timeline of Kharkiv since 2022 

Kharkiv has been one of Russia’s prime targets since it invaded Ukraine on February 24, 2022. The region was the centre of intense fighting at the beginning of the invasion, until Ukrainian forces managed to push Russia back in May 2022. Russia, however, continued to shell the Kharkiv region, destroying critical infrastructure like thermal power plants and educational institutions. 

By October 2022, Ukraine had control over most of Kharkiv oblast. Russia, however, kept up its attack for most of 2023. It renewed the offensive in the region in May 2024, and Ukraine’s commander-in-chief on May 12 said the situation in Kharkiv has “significantly worsened.”

Why is Kharkiv important?

Kharkiv is the second-largest city in Ukraine after the capital Kyiv, population-wise. It is a major industrial town in the country and is home to multiple institutes of higher education. This makes Kharkiv a significant economic asset for Ukraine. The city, and the larger oblast of which it is a part, have been repeatedly attacked by Russia since it invaded Ukraine in February 2022. Ukraine’s counteroffensives in the region have become a symbol of the country’s resistance to Russian occupation even as it remains one of Moscow’s major targets.

Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday said his forces are advancing in the Kharkiv region to create a buffer zone to protect his country’s border regions. However, the city of Kharkiv itself is not a part of his plan, Mr. Putin added. 

Mr. Putin also blamed Ukraine for shelling Russia’s border regions, calling it the reason for his country’s renewed offensive in Kharkiv. “I said publicly that if this continues, we will be forced to create a security zone, a buffer zone. That is what we are doing,” he was quoted as saying. 

Russia has mentioned creating a “sanitary zone” in the Kharkiv region on previous occasions, too. When Mr. Putin pledged to carve out this zone after winning the Russian presidential election in March, he did not provide specifics, but security analysts believed he could attempt to capture Kharkiv city, as per an Associated Press report. 

“In Russian discourse on the war, elaborated by President Putin, the matter of Ukrainian identity is central, and the denial of such identity underpins the strategic plan for the destruction of Ukraine as a major European state. Kharkiv, which is a predominantly Russian-speaking city, makes a key exhibit in such discourse – and the resolute rejection by its inhabitants of Russian plans for annexation constitutes major evidence of falsity of Putin’s claims,” Pavel Baev, research professor at the Peace Research Institute Oslo, told The Hindu. 

Mr. Baev also believes that Russia’s offensive in Kharkiv is aimed at distracting attention from Donbas. “Russian attacks toward Kharkiv remain limited in scope and are aimed primarily at distracting Ukrainian forces from the main theatre of operations in Donbas. Despite frequent missile strikes and bombings, Kharkiv remains a major urban centre, and Russian would need a grouping of at least 150,000 troops to conduct an operation on its encirclement and capture. No such force has been gathered, and it is in fact beyond Russia’s capacity to build such grouping without weakening its positions on the key strategic directions in Southern Ukraine,” he said.

Donetsk and Luhansk in the Donbas region are critical points of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. On February 21, 2022, days before Russia invaded Ukraine, Mr. Putin had recognised the independence of Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts and also declared that he would provide them military support. 

What next?

Air defence coverage in Kharkiv city area will allow Ukraine to restrict Russia’s aviation operations if western countries allow Ukraine to intercept Russian aircraft in Russian airspace, since they are capable of striking Kharkiv City without ever leaving Russian airspace, the Institute for the Study of War noted. So far, Ukraine’s European allies and the U.S. have prohibited Ukraine from striking targets within Russia.  

However, in his recent Ukraine visit, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said it is up to Ukraine to chart its course in the war. “We have not encouraged or enabled strikes outside of Ukraine, but ultimately Ukraine has to make decisions for itself about how it’s going to conduct this war, a war it’s conducting in defence of its freedom, of its sovereignty, of its territorial integrity. And we will continue to back Ukraine with the equipment that it needs to succeed, that it needs to win,” Mr. Blinken said in a press conference with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba on May 15 in Kyiv. 

(With inputs from agencies)

A Ukrainian serviceman prepares to launch a drone at the frontline in Donetsk region, Ukraine. File.
| Photo Credit: AP

Russia reported some 60 drones and several missiles shot down over its territory overnight into May 19, with Ukraine in turn saying it destroyed over 30 Russian drones. Russia’s renewed offensive continues to play out in Ukraine’s war-ravaged northeast.

Russian air defenses shot down 57 Ukrainian drones over its southern Krasnodar region overnight Saturday, the Russian Defense Ministry said Sunday morning.

Local military officials said drone debris hit an oil refinery in the town of Slavyansk-on-Kuban, but there was no fire or damage. Local news outlet Astra published videos appearing to show an explosion at the refinery as it was hit by a drone. The videos could not be independently verified.

Nine long-range ballistic missiles and a drone were destroyed over the Russia-occupied Crimean Peninsula, following Friday morning’s massive Ukrainian drone attack that cut off power in the city of Sevastopol.

A further three drones were shot down over the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine. According to regional Gov. Vyacheslav Gladkov, a church roof was set on fire by falling drone debris, but there were no casualties.

In Ukraine, air force officials said air defense shot down all 37 Russian drones launched against the country overnight.

In the northeastern Kharkiv region, where Moscow recently launched a new offensive, regional Gov. Oleh Syniehubov said Sunday morning that one person died and 11 were wounded as a result of shelling over the previous day.

Ukrainian troops are fighting to halt Russian advances in the Kharkiv region that began late last week.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday during a visit to China that Moscow’s offensive in the Kharkiv region aims to create a buffer zone but that there are no plans to capture the city.

Russian President Vladimir Putin chairs a meeting with members of the new government in Moscow, Russia May 14, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Russian President Vladimir Putin on May 14 signed a decree appointing a new government, including replacement of the Defence Minister with a former Deputy Prime Minister who is an economics expert with no military background.

When Mr. Putin was inaugurated for a new six-year term on May 7, the government submitted its resignation in line with Russian law. Mr. Putin reappointed Mikhail Mishustin as Prime Minister three days later, which was quickly approved by the lower house of parliament.

On May 12, he signed a decree moving Sergei Shoigu from his post as Defence Minister to Head of the National Security Council. Mr. Putin also nominated Deputy Prime Minister Andrei Belousov to take Mr. Shoigu’s place.

Mr. Putin also proposed names for some Cabinet members to return to their posts and Mr. Mishustin submitted names for several new ministers, all of which were approved by the parliament.

Mr. Shoigu has been widely seen as a key figure in Mr. Putin’s decision to send Russian troops into Ukraine. Russia had expected the operation to quickly overwhelm Ukraine’s much smaller and less-equipped army and for Ukrainians to broadly welcome Russian troops.

Instead, the conflict galvanised Ukraine to mount an intense defence, dealing the Russian army humiliating blows, including the retreat from an attempt to take the capital, Kyiv, and a counteroffensive that drove Moscow’s forces out of the Kharkiv region.

Mr. Shoigu also was shadowed by the arrest last month of Deputy Defence Minister Timur Ivanov on charges of accepting huge bribes.

The decree by Putin largely retains the previous Cabinet, but names new energy, sports, transport, industry and agriculture ministers.

Firefighters work at a site of a Russian missile strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine on May 10, 2024.
| Photo Credit: Reuters

Russian forces began a renewed ground assault in Ukraine’s northeast, killing and injuring several people and forcing more than 1,700 civilians to evacuate from the Kharkiv region, officials said on May 11.

Artillery, mortar, and aerial bombardments hit more than 30 different towns and villages, leaving at least three people dead and five others injured, said Kharkiv Gov. Oleh Syniehubov.

Ukraine rushed reinforcements to the Kharkiv region on May 10 to hold off a Russian attempt to breach local defenses, authorities said.

Ukrainian forces also launched a barrage of drones and missiles on May 11 night, Russia’s Ministry of Defense said, with air defense systems downing 21 rockets and 16 drones over Russia’s Belgorod, Kursk and Volgograd regions. One person died in a drone strike in the Belgorod region, and another in the Kursk region, local officials said.

Another strike set ablaze an oil depot in Ukraine’s Russian-occupied Luhansk region, killing three people and injuring eight more, Leonid Pasechnik, the region’s Moscow-installed leader said on the messaging app Telegram on May 11.

Russian forces stepped up their bombardment of Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, in late March. May 10’s attack signaled a tactical switch in the war by Moscow that Ukrainian officials had been expecting for weeks.

Russian military bloggers said the assault could mark the start of a Russian attempt to carve out a “buffer zone” that President Vladimir Putin vowed to create earlier this year to halt frequent Ukrainian attacks on Belgorod and other Russian border regions.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy confirmed on May 10 evening that Russian forces were expanding their operations. He also called on the country’s Western allies to ensure that promised deliveries of military aid would swiftly reach the front lines.

“It is critical that partners support our warriors and Ukrainian resilience with timely deliveries. Truly timely ones,” he said in a video statement on X. “A package that truly helps is the actual delivery of weapons to Ukraine, rather than just the announcement of a package.”

The Kremlin’s forces have repeatedly sought to exploit Ukraine’s shortages of ammunition and personnel as the flow of Western military aid to Kyiv has tapered off in recent months, with promised new support still yet to arrive.

Ukraine previously said it was aware that Russia was assembling thousands of troops along the northeastern border, close to the Kharkiv and Sumy regions. Intelligence officials also said they had expected an attack there though Russia’s most recent ground offensive had been focused on parts of eastern Ukraine farther south.

While Russia’s gains in the region have so far been limited, analysts at the U.S. think tank Institute of the Study of War described them Friday as “tactically significant.”

They said Russia had only “committed relatively limited manpower to their initial assaults” but that the offensive in Kharkiv “is meant to … (draw) Ukrainian manpower and materiel from other critical sectors of the front in eastern Ukraine.”

The Russian military could also try to cut key supply routes and try to blockade Kharkiv, home to roughly 1.1 million people and only about 30 km south of the border.

In the war’s early days, Russia made a botched attempt to quickly storm Kharkiv but retreated from its outskirts after about a month. In the fall of 2022, seven months later, Ukraine’s army pushed them out of Kharkiv. The bold counterattack helped persuade Western countries that Ukraine could defeat Russia on the battlefield and merited military support.