President Volodymyr Zelensky of Ukraine warned on Sunday that Russia was preparing for a new ground offensive in northeastern Ukraine, following a missile strike on a hardware superstore in Kharkiv that killed at least 14 people and wounded dozens more. Zelensky accused Russia of aggression and said they were massing troops near the border in preparation for offensive actions. The attack on Kharkiv was part of Russia’s efforts to expand the war and force Ukraine to spread its troops more thinly across the battlefield.
The incursion by Russian troops in May was a significant escalation in the ongoing conflict, with experts believing that Russia’s objective was to extend the length of the battlefield and increase its advantage in terms of military size. Ukrainian forces are currently defending against Russian advances in various regions, including Donetsk, the northeast, and Zaporizhzhia. The recent increase in ferocity of Russian aerial attacks in Kharkiv has resulted in a sharp rise in casualties and forced many residents to flee the city.
The strike in Kharkiv was seen as an attempt to cause maximum civilian casualties, according to Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba. He called on Ukraine’s NATO allies to provide more Patriot missiles and other defense systems to help protect against missile strikes. A stalled multibillion-dollar military aid package from the U.S. Congress has left Ukraine vulnerable to Russian attacks, with much-needed hardware still pending delivery. Kharkiv remains vulnerable to further strikes, as evidenced by a second attack hitting civilian infrastructure in the city center.
Russian attacks have also extended beyond the usual battlegrounds, with reports of drones damaging a preschool building in the Mykolaiv region and explosions in other regions of Ukraine. Zelensky called on President Biden and President Xi Jinping of China to attend a peace summit in Switzerland next month to seek a complete withdrawal of Russian forces from Ukrainian territory and an end to attacks on Ukrainian soil. The ongoing conflict has left Ukraine in need of international support to defend against further Russian aggression and protect its civilian population.
