Russia claims to have captured another village in Kharkiv region, Ukraine struggles on eastern front

Russia on Saturday (May 18) said that it had seized a village near Vovchansk in the Kharkiv region, where it launched a new offensive last week. The Russian defence ministry said: "Units of the northern troop group liberated the village of Starytsya in the Kharkiv region, and continued to advance deep into the enemy's defences."

The announcement comes as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he expects Russia to step up its offensive in the northeast. However, he also revived the request for advanced air defence systems in its fight against Russia. He said that Kyiv has only a quarter of the air defences it needs to hold the front line.

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Zelensky said Russian troops managed to advance between five to 10 kilometres (3-6 miles) along the northeastern border before being stopped by Ukrainian forces. The president also added that the region could be the "first wave" in a wider offensive.

"I won't say it's a great success (forRussia) but we have to be sober and understand that they are going deeper into our territory," he said, speaking from Kyiv on Friday. It was his first interview with foreign media since the offensive began.

"Today, we have about 25 per cent of what we need to defend Ukraine. I'm talking about air defence," he said, further adding that Ukraine needs "120 to 130" F-16 fighter jets or other advanced aircraft to counter Russian advance.

A similar issue was highlighted by Major-General Vadym Skibitsky, who is the deputy head of Ukrainian Defence Intelligence. He told the Economist last week: "Our problem is very simple: we have no weapons. They always knew April and May would be a difficult time for us."

Meanwhile, a Ukrainian official has said that the Russian forces have captured dozens of civilians in the border town of Vovchansk, media reported. A top regional police officer alleged that Moscow has been using the captives as "human shields".

Watch:Russia warns encroachments on territory will not go unanswered

What does Russia want withKharkiv?

Russian President Vladimir Putin saidthere was no intention at this stage to take Kharkiv, which is Ukraine's second city. It is about 30 kilometres from the border and more than one million people still live there. As per news agencies,Ukraine has evacuated almost 10,000 people from the northeast border area.

During a trip to China this week, Putin said that the northeastern offensive was in retaliation for Ukraine's shelling of border regions and that Moscow was trying to create a "security zone".

Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on Ukraine-Russia war on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately and responsibly report ongoing developments, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos

(With inputs from agencies)