Russia may soon begin summer offensive attack in Ukraine

Russia may soon begin summer offensive attack in Ukraine

well it hasn’t been front page news lately but the war in Ukraine is heating up ahead of Russia’s long anticipated summer offensive the Russians launching a new push in the kive region in the wake of that massive us Aid package that is still on its way overseas our Patrick revil has been tracking it Patrick uh Ukraine it’s been an anticipating this offensive of course uh what more do we know hi Kira yeah there’s been a big development today Russia has opened a new front in the early hours of the morning launching a major push um across the northern border into the har region in Ukraine’s Northeast and the attack which was with armored vehicles following a major artillery barrage was focused on the city of V Chans which is about 60 kilms East of HEV which is Ukraine’s second largest city Ukrainian officials are saying that for now Ukrainian forces were expecting the attack and were able to repel it so far but say that heavy fighting is continuing uh one source has told our colleagues in Ukraine that they hit the Russians badly but it’s hard to tell how this is going to develop I andan as you say Ukraine has basically been bracing for months um for a major summer offensive by Russian forces um you know an official has told our colleagues in Ukraine that they believe this may well be that but it will take some days now to understand quite how large it’s going to be we know that Russia is assessed of massed around 40,000 troops across the border um in the north and that while that is not enough most alist believe to try and seize hake it’s certainly enough to try and put severe pressure on Ukraine’s front lines KIRO all right so what is Russia’s objective here in this new front of the war has anything changed yeah I think that’s a good question because the the question is what is the objective of opening this front in harke in the harke direction um as I said you know most analysts believe that 40,000 troops is not enough to try and actually seize the city of hke but it is enough to try and put pressure on Ukraine’s front lines and because at the moment Ukraine is already under severe pressure in the Eastern region of donbass where Russia has been advancing and has been putting uh has been threatening a key strategic City there called Chiva and so this will again already put great strain on Ukraine’s defenses Ukraine says it’s already sending reserves now towards um the attack in the north around HEV and so the question now really is is this an attempt just to try and draw more forces away from donbass or is it going to be something even larger and a try and push to get closer to H and threaten the city there and then let’s talk about the American Aid and uh just how it’s going to impact this fight it’s still apparently on its way yeah I mean I think American Aid here is absolutely crucial and I think what we’re hearing from many Ukrainian officials and also independent military observers is that the delay in trying to pass the aid um has in part led to this situation where Russia over the last six months has been able to improve its position on the ground and basically lay the ground for this summer offensive um and right now because it takes simply time to deliver the weapons although Congress has passed finally the aid package it now takes weeks and months to actually deliver all the aid the Pentagon has said it already is moving weapons um but ultimately Ukraine is also a very large country the front line is huge and so getting the ammunition where it’s needed will take time and again a source close to president zalinsky told one of our colleagues in Ukraine today after this attack began that we need those American weapons ASAP kir all right Patrick revil appreciate it thank you

Russian forces have launched a new push into the Kharkiv region in Northeastern Ukraine as the Biden administration announces a desperately needed $400 million aid package for Ukraine.

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