The Ukrainian city of Vovchanskin the northeast, was completely destroyed behind the russian siege. Debris, bombed buildings and remains of projectiles are the only thing left in this place that, for weeks, was the target of enemy attacks.
Images captured in recent days showed the blocks of apartments, houses and buildings in ruins, without roofs, with their facades stained black by smoke and explosions, and endless damage of all kinds. At times, the images were invaded by dense smoke that darkens the sky after the impact of missiles and the subsequent fires that break out.
However, one site still remains intact: the golden dome of the local churchwhich has been resisting since the start of the war.
More than two years after the war began and in the midst of artillery shortages among kyiv’s troops, Russian forces sought to take advantage and increased their offensives in the region of Kharkov, with the aim of being able to advance on this front and conquer new territories. Thus, on May 10, they began almost daily attacks with assault drones, projectiles and bombs which often reached more than just the military and ended up in civilian areas. Thousands of the 17,000 residents fled the city but many others decided to stay or were prevented from evacuating due to the rapid Russian advance.
However, with the support of the West, Ukraine managed to reverse the situation and already controls 70% of Volchanskwhile reaffirms its positions throughout the region from Kharkiv.
Part of this support was reflected in the change in the Allies’ position regarding the use of the weapons provided to Volodimir Zelensky on enemy territory. The day before, President Joe Biden granted this request and reported that he had ordered his team to “ensure that Ukraine can use weapons supplied by the United States for counterattack purposes in the Kharkiv region, so that Ukraine can counterattack the Russian forces that are attacking them or preparing to attack them.”
In turn, the Secretary General of NATO, Jens Stoltenberg, noted that while “Ukraine has the right and responsibility to protect its people, we have the right to help them defend their right to self-defense.” Thus, he explained that The Alliance does not impose any restrictions on its weapons as it assumes that kyiv will use them in line with globally accepted norms.
“International law allows use against military targets in Russia as part of self-defense”, he stressed in this regard.
On the other hand, France and Germany also expressed their support for kyiv with this change in position. The Parisian Defense Minister, Sébastien Lecornu, said that kyiv “has the right to respond” to the attacks and, coincidentally, “those weapons that are given to it allow it to defend itself and that does not make France a co-belligerent.”
Meanwhile, from the chancellery led by Olaf Scholz they highlighted the same aspect and added that, for said defense, Ukraine “can also use the weapons supplied for this purpose, including those supplied by us”.
(With information from AP)
