UKRAINE, KHARKIV OBLAST, Nov 27 — Russian troops can’t advance but increase glide bomb and artillery attacks on the Ukrainian army’s positions in Vovchansk and near it on the Kharkiv axis, said Yevhenii Romanov, the spokesman for the “Kharkiv” group of forces, in the state telethon on November 26. 

Almost 80% of the buildings of Vovchansk were damaged or destroyed after Russia began its new ground offensive on Kharkiv Oblast in May 2024, revealed the investigation by Bellingcat and AFP, published on October 28.

Ukrainian troops stopped the Russian push into the north of the region in the summer of 2024. Fighting near Lyptsi and in Vovchansk continues today. 

Romanov said that, in Vovchansk, the combat is constant, but the Russian army doesn’t have advantages because “they can’t move in large columns [utilizing] the heavy armored machinery or advance in large numbers because Vovchansk’s terrain became very particular after the period of long combat.” 

He added that almost all roadways in Vovchansk are gone, and those that have “stayed intact” are now mined. 

Romanov also said Russians can’t move in smaller groups, too, because of the Armed Forces’ firepower and their strike drones patrolling the area. 

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