Russia Suffers 'Losses' After Tank Push in City: 'Retreated'

Russia suffered losses and was forced to retreat after attempting to advance in the embattled front line town of Vovchansk in Ukraine's northeast, Kyiv's military said Thursday.

"In Vovchansk, in preparation for assault operations, the enemy attempted to deliver personnel to the central part of the city, using two tanks and two MTLB armored fighting vehicles; [they] suffered losses and retreated," the Kharkiv Operational Tactical Group said in a statement posted to its Telegram channel.

The Kharkiv group of forces didn't elaborate on Russia's troop losses.

Heavy clashes are underway in the war-ravaged Kharkiv region town, which had a pre-war population of 17,000.

The Kremlin's forces kick-started an offensive in the Kharkiv region on May 10, seizing a number of villages on Ukraine's northeastern frontier, and forcing thousands of civilians to flee, but Ukraine soon said that Russia's push in the region had failed, and that Moscow had suffered high troops losses.

Newsweek could not independently verify Ukraine's claim and contacted Russia's Defense Ministry via email for comment.

The Institute for the Study of War, a U.S.-based think tank, said in its latest analysis of the conflict in Ukraine on Thursday that fighting continued north of Kharkiv City near Lyptsi and Hlyboke and northeast of Kharkiv City in Vovchansk, "but there were no confirmed changes to the frontline."

"The spokesperson of a Ukrainian brigade operating in the Kharkiv direction stated that Russian forces operating in this direction are conducting assaults without armored vehicle support," the ISW said.

Russia is also focusing its efforts in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region, and is pushing toward the city of Pokrovsk.

The Kremlin has been pushing for the total capture of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions—which together comprise the Donbas—since Russia's initial invasion of eastern Ukraine in 2014. Pokrovsk is a key logistical hub for Ukrainian forces in the area.

The ISW said Moscow is "pursuing two immediate tactical efforts" as part of an ongoing push operation to seize the city.

"The Russian military command likely views both of these tactical efforts as desired prerequisites for launching an intensified offensive effort against Pokrovsk itself," the think tank said.

The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said on Friday morning that Russian forces attacked Pokrovsk 58 times over the past day.

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