Reuters is reporting that Russian armored units crossed the Ukrainian border from Russia in the northeast area near Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, earlier today. The incursion is being repulsed by Ukrainian forces with troops and artillery. From Reuters' report:
"Russian forces launched an armoured ground attack on Friday near Ukraine's second city of Kharkiv in the northeast of the country and made limited gains, opening a new front in a war that has long been waged in the east and south.
Ukraine sent reinforcements as fighting raged in the border areas of the region, the defence ministry said, adding that Russia had pounded the frontier town of Vovchansk with guided aerial bombs and artillery.
'At approximately 5 a.m., there was an attempt by the enemy to break through our defensive line under the cover of armoured vehicles,' the ministry said.
'As of now, these attacks have been repulsed; battles of varying intensity continue.' [snip]
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy told a press conference in Kyiv that Ukrainian forces had been prepared to meet the assault, but said Moscow could send more troops to the area.
Ukraine chased Russian troops out of most of the Kharkiv region in 2022, following Russia's full-scale invasion in February of that year. But after weathering a Ukrainian counteroffensive last year, Russian forces are back on the offensive and slowly advancing in the Donetsk region that lies further south.
Ukrainian concerns grew in March over the Kremlin's intentions in the Kharkiv region when Russian President Vladimir Putin called for the creation of a buffer zone inside Ukrainian territory. He said this was needed to protect Russia from shelling and border incursions.
Since then, Kharkiv, which is particularly vulnerable because of its proximity to Russia, has been hammered by air strikes that have damaged the region's power infrastructure." (our emphasis)
An emboldened Kremlin has been seeking to take advantage of the months-long halt in U.S. military supplies to Ukraine, caused by pro-Russian MAGA Republicans. A Russian "summer offensive" may start in the weeks ahead, when the invaders seek to capture as much Ukrainian territory as possible before those munitions arrive and can be distributed. Since the halt in U.S. weapons supplies last fall, Ukrainian civilian and armed forces deaths and casualties can be laid directly at the feet of pro-Putin MAGA Republicans and their cult leader.
