Kharkiv on the brink: Wolczanska's desperate evacuation amid shelling
A massive evacuation of residents of Wolczanska in the Kharkiv region is underway. The city is under constant shelling by the Russians. Its defenders are surprised at how easily the enemy crossed the border. "There were no fortifications, not even mines," claims one of the commanders.
A massive evacuation of residents of Wolczanska in the Kharkiv region is underway. The city is under constant shelling by the Russians. According to Oleh Syniehubov, head of the Kharkiv regional administration, only about 500 residents are left there.
- People are fleeing because they fear the Russian occupation again - claims the Radio Svoboda correspondent.
The Russians occupied Wołczanska on the first day of the Russian invasion in February 2022. It was liberated a few months later, in September 2022. Everything indicates that it may be taken over by the Russians again.
The Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian army, Gen. Oleksandr Syrsky, admitted on Sunday that the situation in the border area in the Kharkiv region "is difficult". He assured that Ukrainian forces were doing everything to stop the enemy.
The enemy's actions in this direction began according to a known schedule, about which the Main Intelligence Directorate (GUR) informed all authorities, leadership, and command. HUR representative Andriy Yosov stated that necessary actions are being taken.
"There were not even mines"
A slightly different view of the situation is held by the commanders of the Ukrainian army units fighting the Russians in the Kharkiv region. One of them, Denys Yaroslavsky, shared his opinion on the matter on his Facebook profile.
Yaroslavsky admitted that it was possible to break and destroy one of the Russian units on Sunday. "But the enemy brought in reserves. Street fighting began, and the city was surrounded. I'm saying this because we may die, and no one will know the truth. And why is this happening?!" asks the unit commander.
The soldier claims that the Russians have entered the Kharkiv region again because "there was no line of fortifications and mines".
"Within two years, concrete fortifications should have been built at the border with Ukraine. And there were not even mines. We come to the conclusion that it is either thoughtless theft or deliberate sabotage! Now we are losing people and territories, and we do what we already did on September 22 (Ukrainians recaptured Wolczanska on September 22—ed.)"—we read in Denys Yaroslavsky's post.
"I hope those responsible will be punished"
The commander of one of the Ukrainian units also informed that the territorial defence soldiers, who have already left their positions in the Kharkiv region, "are already filing reports that they were forced to sign acceptance certificates for fortifications that were not even 30 per cent complete".
"I hope those responsible will be punished" - stated the soldier.
Let us remind you that in January, the Reuters agency reported that, according to Volodymyr Zelensky's decision, an intensive expansion of fortifications along the entire border with Belarus and Russia is underway in Ukraine, from Volyn, which borders Poland, to the Kharkiv and Donetsk regions, where fights with Russian troops are ongoing.
On May 3, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense, on its Telegram profile, informed that "Sumy, Zaporizhzhia, Donetsk, Kherson and Kharkiv regions: construction of defensive fortifications on five fronts is nearing completion".
