Tag: Kharkiv

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No Plans to Capture city of Kharkiv, Says Putin

Putin said the buffer zone around Kharkiv is needed because the Belgorod region was being massively bombarded with drones and missiles from Kharkiv….reports Asian Lite News

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Friday that at the moment he has no plans to capture the city of Kharkiv, but that Russian forces were establishing a buffer zone in the area because of attacks from Kharkiv on the Russian region of Belgorod.

He made his comments in response to a question from Russian state media reporters at the end of his visit to China in the city of Harbin.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visited the heavily attacked Kharkiv region on Thursday and said the situation had stabilised. The area has come under heavy Russian attack recently.

Putin said the buffer zone around Kharkiv is needed because the Belgorod region, which borders Ukraine, was being massively bombarded with drones and missiles from Kharkiv.

Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev, who is currently deputy head of the National Security Council, described Zelensky’s trip to Kharkiv as a farewell visit.

Russian leaders repeatedly refer to Kharkiv as a Russian city, leading many experts to assume that the Kremlin wants to annex the region. Putin’s denial, at least for the time being, is the first time he has stated that there are no current plans to do so.

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Leave Kharkiv immediately: India’s ‘urgent’ advisory to citizens

Indian Embassy has advised its citizens that “under all circumstances they must reach these settlements by 1800 hours (Ukrainian time) today”, reports Asian Lite News

In a distress call, the Indian Embassy in Ukraine has directed all stranded citizens to leave the second most populous city, Kharkiv under all circumstances by 6 p.m. (Ukrainian time, IST 9.30 p.m.) on Wednesday.

The embassy stated: “Urgent advisory to all Indian nationals in Kharkiv. For their safety and security they must leave Kharkiv immediately. Proceed to Pesochin, Babaye and Bezlyudovka as soon as possible.”

It reiterated, “Under all circumstances they must reach these settlements by 1800 hours (Ukrainian time) today.”

A second advisory underscored the urgency, saying “for their own safety and security they must leave Kharkiv immediately repeat immediately in the light of the deteriorating situation”.

“Those students who cannot find vehicles or buses and are in railway station can proceed on foot to Pisochyn (11 km), Babai (12 km) and Bezlyudivka (16 km),” it added.

Kharkiv, a largely Russian-speaking city near the Russian border, has a population of around 1.4 million. It has been found that Russian troops have landed in Kharkiv and are engaged in heavy fighting with Ukrainian forces.

Russia shelled Kharkiv damaging various installations.

Further, videos are circulating online of an apparent attack on the regional police and intelligence headquarters in Kharkiv.

“Practically there are no areas left in Kharkiv where an artillery shell has not yet hit,” Anton Gerashchenko, adviser to the Ukrainian interior minister, said in a statement posted on Telegram.

However, Russia says it is only targeting Ukraine’s military infrastructure, air defence and air forces with high-precision weapons.

It was in Kharkiv where an Indian student was killed on Tuesday morning in shelling. Naveen Shekharappa Gyanagoudar, a 21-year-old medical student from Karnataka, was standing in the queue for food in Kharkiv on Tuesday morning when he was killed.

Naveen was a final year medical student at the Kharkiv National Medical University. He was from Karnataka’s Haveri and lived near a prominent government building that was blown up by Russian soldiers.

The war between two countries has entered into the sixth day after Russian President Vladimir Putin called for military operation.

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