Kyiv asks the US to quickly deliver weapons to protect Kharkov

The head of the Ukrainian presidential office, Andriy Yermak, this Monday called on the United States to speed up military aid so that it arrives “on time” to protect the strategic city of Kharkov from the advance of Russian troops.

Yermak praised all the aid provided by Washington and the recent $60 billion (€55.6 billion at current exchange rate) package approved in the North American Congress, but stressed that this assistance must be received “as quickly as possible.” “, reports Europa Press.

“Kharkov is an important strategic city. There are still a lot of people there. We will continue to be there, but now the fighting is very close and the Ukrainians are worried, so it is very important that there is help,” he emphasized during a meeting with a member of the North American Security Council Michael Carpenter.

The two officials discussed the bilateral security agreement, with Ermak emphasizing that the true power of the United States and the security agreements the two sides have already signed are taken into account by Kiev, the Ukrainian president emphasized in a statement.

They also discussed the Global Peace Summit, which will be held on June 15 and 16 in Switzerland.

Ukraine’s military acknowledged Monday that Russian troops were making “tactical successes” in Kharkov, the country’s second-largest city, but announced they had struck two energy infrastructures in two regions bordering Russia.

Over the past week, more than 830 clashes have been recorded on the Kharkov front, said Dimitro Likhov, a representative of the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, noting that the number of Russian airstrikes on Ukrainian positions and civilian infrastructure is increasing. . up to 580.

“At present, the enemy has achieved tactical successes,” he admitted.

The spokesman also stressed that Russia, despite suffering “significant losses,” managed to mobilize five more battalions to try to take control of the city of Volchansk.

The attack on Volchansk, located about five kilometers from the Russian border, is aimed at retaking territory that Ukraine managed to regain in the first year of the war and which it has managed to hold ever since.

Russia also wants to make the border town a buffer zone to prevent Ukrainian incursions into Russian territory.

The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense also announced this Monday that it launched, through the Security Service of Ukraine (SBU), a drone attack on a fuel depot located in the Russian border region of Belgorod, which led to an infrastructure fire as well as a power line. A substation in Lipetsk in western Russia, the national news agency Ukrinform reported.

In recent months, Ukraine has attacked more than a dozen oil refineries and fuel depots located within the Russian Federation in an attempt to disrupt fuel supplies to Russian troops occupying its territory and cripple the Russian oil industry.

These “drone” attacks on Russian oil infrastructure have sparked unrest in the United States, whose leaders have called on Ukraine to abandon these actions, fearing that they would provoke an escalation of the conflict by Russia and destabilize the international oil market.