Putin reveals plans for Kharkov

RT
Sat, 18 May 2024 18:25 UTC

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Russian combat operations are not aimed at capturing the city, the president has said

Russia has no intention of capturing the Ukrainian city of Kharkov, which is close to the Russian border, President Vladimir Putin has said. Moscow's forces have been making notable gains in the area in recent days.

Speaking to reporters at the Harbin Institute of Technology during his two-day visit to China, Putin commented on Russia's operations in Kharkov Region, asserting that Moscow is achieving success on the battlefield by acting "strictly according to plan."

When asked about Russia's goals there, Putin noted that Ukraine is to blame for recent fighting in the area, as it "unfortunately continues to shell residential blocks in the border areas, including Belgorod."

"Civilians are dying out there. Everything is crystal clear. They are firing directly at the center of the city," the president said, recalling that he had publicly warned Kiev that Russia would be forced to establish a "cordon sanitaire" in the areas under Kiev's control if the attacks continued.

This is what we are doing. As for [the capture of] Kharkov, there are no such plans for today.

Russian forces went on the offensive in Kharkov Region last week, pushing Ukrainian troops back and capturing several border settlements. In light of this, Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky canceled all upcoming foreign trips and traveled to Kharkov, Ukraine's second largest city.

In an interview with ABC News on Thursday, he described the situation as "very serious," stressing that Ukraine "cannot afford to lose" the city. Kiev also earlier announced the redeployment of reserves to this sector of the front.

In similar remarks, US Department of State spokesman Vedant Patel called the situation in the area "incredibly dire." Several media reports suggested that the ease of Russia's advance in Kharkov Region was due to Kiev's failure to set up any proper defenses.

Putin first spoke of a "cordon sanitaire" back in March, following several particularly deadly attacks on Belgorod that left dozens of civilians dead. Russian border regions have also been the target of incursions by the so-called Russian Volunteer Corps and Russian Freedom Legion, which are composed of Russian defectors and fugitive neo-Nazis. Both groups have been designated terrorist organizations by Moscow.

Comment:

From the same source:

17 May, 2024 13:20
Ukraine was warned about Russia's Kharkov offensive - Guardian
Despite the advance notice from the UK, Kiev's defense lines on the border were "thin to absent," the paper said

The UK warned Ukraine ahead of the Russian offensive in Kharkov Region, but Kiev failed to prepare for the attack that resulted in Moscow's troops making rapid gains, The Guardian reported on Thursday, citing sources.

British intelligence provided Ukraine with advance warning about the attack, according to one of the newspaper's sources, although he did not say how much time Kiev had to prepare.

However, the alert had followed a public warning by Russian President Vladimir Putin in March, saying Moscow could move to establish a "cordon sanitaire" in Kiev-controlled territories to protect civilians in Russian border regions, particularly in Belgorod, from indiscriminate Ukrainian artillery and drone bombardment.

Given that Ukrainian officials had also reported a concentration of Russian troops in the area ahead of the offensive, "it might have been expected that the attack would be swiftly repulsed," The Guardian said.

However, Ukrainian defensive lines "were thin to absent" in Kharkov Region, the paper said. As a result, the Russian Defense Ministry reported the capture of several border settlements in Kharkov Region in recent days.

Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky recently admitted that Kiev was not ready to meet a large-scale Russian attack due to delays in Western arms shipments. He has canceled scheduled trips to Spain and Portugal, heading to Kharkov instead. Zelensky described the situation as "very serious," but promised that Kiev was redeploying reinforcements to the area from other frontline sectors.

On Tuesday, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken traveled to Kiev to reassure Ukraine that it was "not alone" in the face of the Russian onslaught. He noted that the country was now going through its "critical moment" on the battlefield.

Echoing The Guardian report, some Ukrainian service members complained about the absence of fortifications and minefields in Kharkov Region, while local outlet Ukrainska Pravda reported that funds earmarked for creating defenses had simply been stolen. Ukrainian officials, however, have dismissed the narrative about the lack of defenses as "Russian propaganda" aimed at driving a wedge between local administrations and the top brass in Kiev.

On Friday, during his visit to China, Putin confirmed that Moscow's combat operations in the region were aimed at creating a "cordon sanitaire," stressing that his country had no plans to capture Kharkov, Ukraine's second-largest city, at this point.

The following article explains the process of corruption:
Ukrainian military stole money intended for fortifications - local media

14 May, 2024 14:15
Ukrainian military stole money intended for fortifications - local media
With millions of dollars reportedly embezzled, Russian armor was free to roll across the border into Kharkov

[...]

Writing in Ukrainska Pravda on Monday, Ukrainian anti-corruption activist Martina Boguslavets explained that Kharkov's Department of Housing and Communal Services (ZhKG) and Regional Military Administration (OVA) had been given 7 billion hryvnias ($176.5 million to build fortifications to hold back this advance.

Much of this money was embezzled, Boguslavets claimed. For the supply of wood, the ZhKG and OVA signed contracts worth 270 million hryvnias ($6.8 million) with five companies that were set up immediately after the contracts were announced. No bidding process took place, and at least two of these companies were owned by the same person, Boguslavets wrote.

"Moreover, the owners of these firms do not resemble successful businessmen and businesswomen," she wrote. "They have dozens of court cases, from whiskey theft to domestic violence against a husband and mother; some of them are deprived of parental rights and have had enforcement proceedings for bank loans."

Boguslavets described these business owners as "avatars," placed in charge of the companies either for a small fee or without their knowledge. One of the supposed CEOs, whose firm was paid 52 million hryvnias ($1.3 million) is an agricultural laborer, according to Boguslavets' documents.

"The naked eye can see how a government official mercilessly registers new companies, using for this purpose people who, due to the circumstances, may not be aware of this," she wrote. "And this someone continues to make money on blood."

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