President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held a meeting with journalists to comment on the situation in the Kharkiv region.
Russian army advanced 10 kilometers deep into Ukraine
According to Zelenkyy, he held a substantive meeting with the head of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, the commander of the combined forces of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Yuriy Sodol, General Mykhailo Drapaty, the head of the State Border Service of Ukraine, Serhii Deineko, and representatives of the National Police.
To date, our Defence Forces have stopped the Russians where they are now. The deepest point of their advance is 10 kilometers. In the directions of some enemy brigades, there is no progress at all — and there was none.
Volodymyr Zelenskyi
President of Ukraine
According to him, Ukraine has very powerful brigades.
I am grateful to them. Now we have strengthened several directions with separate battalions — what could be taken somewhere from the reserve and from some directions,’ the president added.
The advance of Russia was caused by a shortage of Ukrainian air defence
Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that the crossing of the border by Russians is connected with the fact that there is not enough air defence.
At a distance where they have an advantage, they operate with aerial bombs and artillery. Eight months of pause in decision-making by partners. It is clear that it was not easy for our soldiers, said Zelenskyy.
The President reported that "no one has reached the concrete defence line, what they are saying is delusional. The enemy has reached the first line. The first line is not a border, it is impossible to build there, because due to the appropriate weapons used by the Russians, our people died".
They are approximately there now. This is the first line, the line that was built during the war, under constant fire, by our military. The first and second lines are built by the military, and the third line is built by local authorities. It is the most powerful — not because they are better than the military, but simply because it is farther from weapons, from shells, from shelling,’ said Zelenskyy.
As the president noted, "Vovchansk is their goal, of course".
As well as wanting a suitable 10km zone, they want to always build on success if there is one. But the main thing for today is that the situation has been stabilised by our Defence Forces, Zelenskyy said.
