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Situation Summary
In the Kharkiv region, Russia’s cross-border offensive northeast of Kharkiv city continued. Since the start of the offensive on 10 May, Russian forces have occupied over 130 square kilometers of territory, including over a dozen border settlements. This offensive led the number of battle events in the Kharkiv region last week to increase to levels almost four times higher than the weekly average for the previous four weeks. Russia’s long-running push on Kupiansk also continued, with Russian forces advancing east and southeast of the city. Clashes also intensified in the Luhansk region, concentrating in the Svatove district along the administrative boundary with the Kharkiv region. In the Donetsk region, Russian forces reportedly advanced northwest of Donetsk city and north of Zarichne in the northern part of the region, while Ukrainian forces regained lost positions northeast of Chasiv Yar. Clashes continued south of Orikhiv in the Zaporizhia region and in the area between Krynky and Oleshky in the Kherson region.
Ukrainian forces continued to launch long-range strikes on Russian positions and military equipment in several occupied regions. In Crimea, Ukrainian forces hit a Russian air defense base on the Ai-Petri mountain in the area of Yalta on 13 May, reportedly killing a military unit commander and another Russian soldier. On 15 and 16 May, Ukrainian missiles hit the Belbek airfield north of Sevastopol, destroying three Russian military aircraft, damaging another one, and setting a fuel storage facility on fire. In the southeastern part of the Luhansk region, Ukrainian missiles struck Russian positions and an ammunition depot in Rovenky and Sorokyne.
Civilians in the newly occupied areas of the Kharkiv region became the targets of direct attacks by occupying forces, with Russian forces killing at least three residents and abducting over 40 others in Vovchansk and Starytsia. On 16 May, civilians trying to flee Vovchansk came under Russian shelling that killed two civilians and wounded two others. Elsewhere in Ukraine, Russian shelling, missiles, and drones killed around 30 civilians in the Chernihiv, Dnipropetrovsk, Donetsk, Kharkiv, Kherson, Odesa, and Sumy regions. On 17 May, Russian missile and drone strikes on Kharkiv city killed four civilians and wounded over 30 others.
