RUSSIA is reportedly building up a 50,000-strong force alongside the border of Kharkiv amid fears of a fresh summer offensive to attack the city.
With the US backing out of direct negotiations to broker a peace deal and Vladimir Putin stalling ceasefire talks, experts fear a major Russian offensive could mobilse in the coming weeks.The Ukrainian military in April reported that the Kremlin was amassing troops to prepare for a fresh assault on Kharkiv - Ukraine's second largest city.
Meanwhile, President Volodymyr Zelensky also said that Moscow has been attempting to gain ground in the border regions of Sumy in the northeast.
Military analysts believe he is trying to press home his advantage and capture more Ukrainian land.
They warn that Putin only has a "four-month window" to get a breakthrough in Ukraine this year.
And this could be the beginning of Russia's summer offensive targeting the border city of Kharkiv - the "fortress" city of Ukraine which put up the maximum resistance at the start of the invasion.
It comes as today Putin launched his largest air attack of the war - blanketing Ukraine with hundreds of drones and missiles.
Andrii Pomahaibus, the chief of staff of Ukraine's 13th National Guard Khartiia Brigade, said this week: "The enemy is trying to pull its personnel closer to the line of combat contact and conduct at least some assault actions."
Reports of troops massing near Kharkiv came after Putin successfully flushed out the Ukrainians from Kursk, which Kyiv captured last year.
Putin's moves in recent weeks suggest he has no intention of putting an end to this war just yet.
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