UKRAINE’S generals warned they have run out of reserves to halt Russia’s shock assault on Kharkiv.
It comes as Vladimir Putin masses more than half a million troops on the frontline in a bid to overpower Ukraine's forces.
Ukraine's military has admitted it is struggling to contain the advance in the north east of the country.
General Kyrylo Budanov, boss of Kyiv’s military intelligence said: “I’ve used everything we have.
“Unfortunately, we don’t have anyone else in the reserves.”
Putin’s troops have seized miles of ground in their fastest advances in months.
The blitz, said to be the first stage of Russia’s summer offensive, is designed to stretch Ukraine’s already outnumbered defenders.
Kyiv said the Russian push appeared to have run out of steam last night — but, in the face of Putin’s 500,000-strong force, warned that could change quickly.
Royal United Services Institute war expert Dr Jack Watling said unless Ukraine could muster more troops its prospects were bleak as Russia had “significant numerical superiority”.
He said: "The Russian forces have now expanded to 510,000 troops.
"The outlook for Ukraine is bleak. Its allies must replenish stockpiles."
Ukraine cannot blitz Russian forces massing just over the border because the US has forbidden it from using its weapons such as Himars rockets in enemy territory.
In Kyiv today, Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelensky met US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who vowed to make Russia pay to rebuild his country.
He said: “It’s what international law demands.”
Russia kicked off a new brutal offensive in Kharkiv in northeastern Ukraine days ago.
Close to 40,000 soldiers and 500 tanks were initially massed along the border ahead of the large-scale ground attack Kyiv had feared was coming for weeks.
Heavy fighting has been raging this week, forcing 6,000 residents to evacuate while Ukraine rushes in reinforcements to shore up its stretched defences.
Dr Alan Mendoza, executive director of the UK-based think tank Henry Jackson Society, told The Sun: "It is a very dangerous offensive in the Kharkiv region right now, the Russians have made significant gains in in a very short time."
Ukrainian forces have now started deploying kamikaze drones in an attempt to push back Russia's swelling army.
No comments:
Post a Comment