Ukraine Recaptures Most Vovchansk, Chasiv Yar As Street Fights Bog Russians Down

Ukrainian forces have recaptured most of Vovchansk and other parts of northern Khariv oblast as Russian attackers have become bogged down in street fighting against increasingly well supplied and reinforced Ukrainian units. 

The Ukrainians have also made headway in the east around Chasiv Yar, as additional artillery ammunition has routed depleted Russians from territory they gained before western resupply resumed. JL  

Isabel Van Brugen reports in Newsweek:

Ukraine's forces have recaptured territory near Vovchansk Thursday as Moscow's forces are "completely bogged down" in street battles after suffering very heavy casualties. Ukrainian forces now control most of Vovchansk. Kyiv's forces (also)  recaptured territory near Chasiv Yar. Ukrainian recently recaptured the eastern part of the Kanal Microraion (easternmost Chasiv Yar)."

Ukraine's forces have recaptured some territory amid an effort to fend off a fierce Russian offensive in the country's Kharkiv region.

Kyiv's forces retook territory near the city of Vovchansk in the Kharkiv region, where Russian troops have been focusing their efforts in the past weeks, the Institute for the Study of War (ISW), a U.S.-based think tank, said Wednesday.

 

Russian forces were advancing steadily into the Kharkiv region after kick-starting an offensive on May 10, as recently approved U.S. military aid for Kyiv trickled into the war-torn country. Lieutenant General Kyrylo Budanov, the head of Ukraine's military intelligence agency, said the situation in the region was "on the edge" and was moving "toward critical" every hour, according to a May 14 New York Times report.

This map published Wednesday by the Institute for the Study of War shows the battlefield situation around the city of Kharkiv in Ukraine. INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF WAR

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on May 16 that Moscow's forces had advanced some 6 miles into the region but that his forces were successfully stabilizing the situation. "In the directions of some enemy brigades, there is no progress at all," he said.

 

Oleksandr Syrskyi, commander in chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, said Thursday that Moscow's forces are "completely bogged down" in street battles for Vovchansk after suffering very heavy casualties. "At the moment, the enemy from different directions is overthrowing reserves, trying to support active assault actions, but unsuccessfully," he said in a statement on his social media

 

In its new analysis of the war, the ISW said geolocated footage published on Wednesday indicates that Ukrainian forces pushed Russian forces from several houses and marginally advanced within northeastern Vovchansk, "highlighting the dynamic nature of the combat. "The spokesperson for a Ukrainian unit operating in the Kharkiv direction stated that Ukrainian forces control most of Vovchansk and that Russian forces are conducting assaults in squad-sized infantry groups," the think tank said.

This Institute for the Study of War map published Wednesday shows the battlefield situation around the city of Chasiv Yar in eastern Ukraine. INSTITUTE FOR THE STUDY OF WAR

The ISW also said Kyiv's forces recaptured territory near the eastern city of Chasiv Yar in the Donetsk region. The think tank said in March that its capture by Moscow "would offer Russian forces limited but not insignificant operational benefits if they could achieve it."

"Geolocated footage published on May 21 indicates that Ukrainian forces recently recaptured several buildings in the eastern part of the Kanal Microraion (easternmost Chasiv Yar)," the ISW said.