INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russia's Defense Ministry said Sunday that its forces had captured four more villages in Ukraine's Kharkiv region as thousands of residents
were evacuated amid Moscow's surprise ground offensive.The ministry said its forces had "advanced deeply into the enemy defenses" and taken
villages including Gatishche, Krasnoye, Morokhovets, and Oleinikovo.Ukraine's military, meanwhile, said it was managing to hold back further
Russian advances.At an evacuation point near the front line in Kharkiv region, AFP reporters on Sunday saw groups of people who had been
Home is home," said 72-year-old Lyuda Zelenskaya, hugging a trembling cat named Zhora.Liuba Konovalova, 70, said she had endured a "really
terrifying" night before her evacuation.Around them, volunteers assisted evacuees toward a few wooden benches where they registered and
received food before being evacuated toward Kharkiv, the regional capital."In total, 4,073 people have been evacuated," Kharkiv region
Governor Oleh Syniehubov said on social media.Ukrainian authorities have reported that several civilians have been killed in Russia's new
offensive since it began early Friday.Syniehubov said the latest casualty, a 63-year-old man, was killed by artillery fire in the village of
killed by shelling on Saturday and one person was found dead in rubble overnight."The city is constantly under fire," he said
"Everything in the city is being destroyed..
You hear constant explosions, artillery, and mortars
The enemy is hitting the city with everything they have."Kharkivsky estimated that around 1,500 people had been evacuated or fled Vovchansk
since Friday, adding that there had been 32 drone strikes on the town over the past 24 hours.But the Ukrainian military said its defenses
were holding."Russian occupiers' attempts to break through our defenses have been stopped," Ukraine's commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky
said.But he added that the situation in the Kharkiv region had "deteriorated significantly" and was "complicated."Ukrainian officials have
warned for weeks that Moscow might try to attack its northeastern border regions, pressing its advantage as Ukraine struggles with delays in
Western aid and manpower shortages.
