Today, Saturday, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced its control of a new village in the Sumi area, in the northeastern Ukraine, amid the escalation of fears of a widespread land attack, as the Ukrainian authorities ordered an mandatory evacuation of a number of border villages.
The Russian ministry stated that its forces extended its control over the village of Vodulagi, located near the Russian border, in the latest field progress after a series of other villages that Moscow announced control in the region in recent weeks.
Moscow has also confirmed its control of the Novobel village in the Donetsk area, where the battles are raging on a daily basis.
For his part, the Chief of Staff of the Ukrainian Army said Olxander Serski Russia focuses its attacks on several axes in Donetsk, especially Bokrovsk and Toritsk, as well as parts of the Sumi region.
Serski stated that the Russian military escalation also extends to the south, especially the Zabarujia region, which increases pressure on the Ukrainian army, which suffers from weakness in the equipment and a lack of resources.
Ukrainian warnings
He was the Ukrainian president Volodimir Zellinski This week, Russia has warned more than 50,000 soldiers near the Sumi region, in what he described as a prelude to a major attack.
Ukrainian sources suggest that Moscow is seeking to establish a buffer zone near the border to prevent any Ukrainian incursion, as happened last summer in the Russian Kursk region.
In this context, the authorities of the Sumi region issued mandatory evacuation orders to the residents of 11 border villages, noting that the decision comes “due to the continuous threat to the lives of civilians as a result of the Russian bombing.” Since the beginning of the escalation, orders included more than 213 towns in the region.
Possible negotiations in Istanbul
Despite the continued escalation, Russia put forward a proposal to conduct a new round of direct negotiations with Ukraine next Monday in Istanbul, after a first round that took place on May 16 without achieving concrete results.
However, Kiev did not officially respond to the proposal, calling for prior to obtaining the “memo” that contains Russian conditions for a permanent peace. On the other hand, the Kremlin refused to present the document, considering that this should be done during the talks.
Ukrainian doubts are increasing about the Russian intentions, especially after Zelinski’s comments in which Moscow was accused of trying to abort any serious negotiating path, indicating that the assortment of the Russian delegation in the first round – head of a second -class advisor – reflects the lack of seriousness.
For his part, he called on the Turkish president Recep Tayyip ErdoganDuring a phone call with Zelinski on Friday evening, the two parties sent two “strong delegations” to the talks, according to the Anatolia Agency.
Russian raids continued on Ukrainian soil, where local authorities reported the killing of at least 8 civilians, including a 9 -year -old girl, as a result of the shelling in separate areas.
It is reported that Russia launched a comprehensive military invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, and still occupies about 20% of Ukrainian lands.