After weeks of relative calm, Kharkiv has returned to war.
Ukraine's second city and its surroundings were hit Tuesday and Wednesday morning by Russian forces.
"It's a bombing with missiles
," said Mikhailo Martosh, the city prosecutor.
At least 15 people are believed to have died, ending the semblance of normal life the town had regained.
Last month, a Ukrainian counterattack had repelled the attackers, breaking up their assault.
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For the kyiv authorities, Moscow is trying to create a diversion.
“
If the Russians continue like this, we will have to react.
It's a way of forcing us to move our artillery.
The idea is to move our troops and this can lead to an escalation,”
said Olesksiy Arestovych, an adviser to the Ukrainian president.
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The most important front is further east, in the Donbass, around Sieverodonetsk.
This city, designated target for Moscow, has been crushed for weeks by the Russian army.
On the spot, "
it's hell",
estimates the governor Sergueii Gaïdaï, governor of the region, but
"our men hold their positions".
In recent days, the Russians have taken over several villages around the city.
The twin city of Lyssytchansk, from which it is only separated by the Donets river, almost impassable since the bridges were destroyed there, is also under the bombs.
“
The Russians approach Lyssytchansk, and bombard with their planes”
, details the governor.
Raid in Russian territory
Casualties would be very heavy on both sides.
According to the British services, about 55% of the forces of the People's Republic of Donetsk, the pro-Russian separatists of Donbass, are out of action.
For the Ukrainian troops, threatened with encirclement in this region, the major problem is supplying the front with food, arms and ammunition.
They also appear to have conducted a raid into Russian territory.
On Wednesday, two drones caused a fire at the Novochakhtinsky oil refinery, located a few kilometers from the border with the Luhansk region
Les Ukrainiens, tant pour ralentir la logistique que pour créer à leur tour des diversions, ont agi. Lundi, une attaque aérienne a été lancée contre l’île aux Serpents, un îlot stratégique dans l’ouest de la mer Noire, aux mains de Moscou depuis les premières heures de la guerre. Ils semblent également avoir conduit un raid en territoire russe. Mercredi, deux drones ont provoqué un incendie dans la raffinerie de pétrole Novochakhtinski, située à quelques kilomètres de la frontière avec la région de Louhansk. Selon les autorités locales, l’incendie n’a fait aucune victime et a été éteint en fin de matinée. Sans accuser nommément les forces ukrainiennes, Moscou a dénoncé des «actes terroristes venant de la frontière occidentale» de cette région russe. Kiev ne commente habituellement pas ce type d’attaques chez le voisin russe.
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The strike undoubtedly also has a symbolic side.
It comes on June 22, a "day of remembrance and mourning" which commemorates the Nazi aggression of the USSR in 1941. On Telegram, President Volodymyr Zelenski recalled that during the Second World War, "
millions of lives were lost lost”
.
"It was supposed to be no more, but the devil has come back."
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