Ukraine struggles to push back Russian offensive as Russia gains ground in Kharkiv
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00:00Achieving tactical success. That is the phrase which is being used by Ukraine to
00:05admit that Russia is advancing around Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region
00:09days after launching a surprise ground offensive over the border that has
00:13forced thousands to evacuate. But Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelensky
00:17saying now that Ukraine has sent in reinforcements and that a counter-attack
00:21is already ongoing. As you can see here Antony Blinken also arriving in Kyiv to
00:26talk with Volodymyr Zelensky in the last few hours. But Zelensky said our task is
00:31clear to thwart Russia's attempt to expand the war. It all comes as Blinken
00:36has arrived there heralding the delivery of the first round of the latest weapons
00:41being sent there by the US. Well earlier we spoke to correspondent Emmanuel
00:45Shahs in Kharkiv.
00:48Kharkiv is not under direct threat of a ground invasion. We do have however
00:53shelling very regularly. Just an hour ago there were explosions in one of the
00:59suburbs of Kharkiv that were heard. We're not too far from the front line. We're 50
01:04kilometers away from Vovzhansk which is one of the hotspots at the moment of
01:08this new ground offensive launched by Russia. Russia is fighting for over 30
01:15settlements in the grey zone. So that's at the border between Russia and Ukraine.
01:22The situation there is very, very tense. The fighting is very, very fierce. I was
01:28talking yesterday to people from Vovzhansk because they were taken in
01:32between two fires if you will. He was telling me that the situation there was
01:37unbearable, had become really like hell on earth with shelling of all
01:43sorts, with gliding bombs, with also artillery shelling and he said he saw
01:52cluster munitions being used against civilians at a rate that was no longer
01:58bearable. And you have massive, massive evacuations being carried in Vovzhansk
02:04itself. You know it was a town of 17,000 inhabitants prior to the full-scale
02:10invasion and now there's 200 people left. Most people could no longer stay there
02:15and evacuations will, there will be attempts also to to get those 200 people
02:21out of the village. This is a situation, a situation similar to these other
02:26settlements under attack with the Ukrainian army and an official from
02:31Vovzhansk district saying that perhaps the the lines of defense that had been
02:37built there after liberation in September 22 hadn't been, hadn't been
02:43tight enough. So fierce fighting still ongoing and under it still hundreds of
02:49civilians being trapped. Emmanuel Shazdeh talking to us a short while ago from
02:54Kharkiv.