After a new Russian advance in the Soumy region, Ukraine fears a magnitude assault – Liberation

Despite the intensification of diplomatic contacts to find a way out of the Russian invasion of 2022, The fights remain fierce in Ukraine. The Russian Defense Ministry announced in a statement that it has taken the village of Vodolagy, in the Soumy region (northeast), near the Russian border.

He also indicated that he had seized a village in the eastern region of Donetsk, Novopil. Most of the fighting is concentrated in eastern Ukraine, but Kyiv fears a new Russian offensive in the Soumy region. A large -scale attack would represent an important challenge for the Ukrainian army, less well endowed and already in a difficult position on the front. Russia claimed this week the taking of several villages, close to its border, in the Soumy region.

Moscow is suspected of wanting to create a buffer zone to prevent Ukrainian incursions on its territory, like last summer in Koursk. Earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia massaged more than 50,000 soldiers for a possible offensive in the area. The Soumy regional administration announced on Saturday the compulsory evacuation of eleven villages close to the border.

She did not quote the fear of an assault, but justified this decision by « The constant threat that weighs on the life of civilians due to bombing ». A total of 213 localities in the region are already placed under evacuation order, according to regional authorities. The compulsory evacuation of a village is generally decided when the fighting is intensifying, but does not necessarily mean that the Russian army is preparing to seize it.

The spokesperson for the state service of border guards, Andriï Demtchenko, nevertheless said on Thursday on Ukrainian television that Russia had massaged enough forces near Soumy for « Try an attack ». According to him, this « reinforcement » started when Moscow’s forces fought against Ukrainian soldiers in the Russian region of Koursk, which faces that of Soumy.

The Ukrainian army launched a surprise offensive there in August, an embarrassing episode for the Kremlin. But it has lost almost all of the territory which it controlled, and Russia has assured that it has driven it completely.

Russia launched its troops in February 2022 to attack Ukraine, a country of which it currently occupies around 20 % of the territory. This conflict has made tens of thousands of civil and military deaths in both camps.

Diplomatic efforts To end it has been intensifying in recent weeks, but each camp accuses the other of not wanting peace. Moscow offered Kyiv to meet for new direct talks on Monday in Istanbul, after a first meeting not very fruitful on May 16. Ukraine has not yet said if it accepted. In particular, she asked to receive the « memorandum » prepared by Moscow to expose her conditions for lasting peace.

Zelensky further reinforced the doubt on Friday on the arrival of a Ukrainian delegation, by evoking a next meeting « Potential ». He accused Russia of doing everything so that it « Does not bring any results ». The Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, in a call with Zelensky on Friday evening, pleaded for the participation of the two countries on Monday with « Strong delegations »according to the Turkish state agency Anadolu.

The composition of the Russian delegation during the first cycle of discussion, led by a second -plan advisor, had been interpreted by kyiv as a sign of the lack of seriousness. Moscow plans to send the same team on Monday. kyiv urges Russia to accept an immediate cease-fire offered by Washington and supported by Europeans, but the Kremlin refuses for the moment. The strikes are also continuing in the country, making the Ukrainian authorities of the dead and the wounded among civilians, especially in regions of the South and the East, according to the Ukrainian authorities.