White House National Security Advisor John Kirby said that Russia may be preparing a larger-scale campaign against Kharkov, Ukraine’s second largest city.
“There is a high possibility that Russia is preparing for a larger attack on Kharkov” – Mr. Kirby commented, according to RT on May 10.
Earlier, on the same day, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defense and President Volodymyr Zelensky announced that Russia had launched a large-scale attack, targeting a number of positions along the Russian border with the Kharkov region.
Moscow has not provided any information about military activities near Kharkiv, other than reports of the seizure of two villages in the border area with the self-proclaimed Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR).
Over the past few months, Ukrainian forces have used Kharkiv as a springboard to launch drone, artillery and missile attacks on Russia’s border areas, primarily Belgorod. .
Also on May 10, US President Joe Biden’s administration announced an additional military aid package worth $400 million to Ukraine – the third package in recent weeks.
Russian soldiers fire Giatsint-S self-propelled artillery toward Ukrainian positions. Photo: Sputnik
According to Politico, the new aid package will include weapons such as: Patriot missiles, Stinger air defense missiles, Bradley fighting vehicles, anti-mine vehicles, Javelin anti-armor systems and other ammunition.
Washington also approved the emergency sale of 3 HIMARS systems at an estimated cost of 30 million USD to Ukraine. This amount will be funded by Germany.
Last month, after many delays, the US finally approved $61 billion in aid to Ukraine.
However, officials in Kiev confirmed to the Financial Times that this aid can only “help slow down Russia’s advance, it cannot stop it.”
Moscow has repeatedly said that the weapons provided by the West to Ukraine cannot reverse the outcome of the conflict.
Russian Defense Minister Sergey Shoigu announced that the country’s forces are now in complete control of the conflict situation and are making steady progress.
A missile launch from America’s “fire god” HIMARS – Photo: CSIS