Russia claims to have taken five Ukrainian villages

The towns of Pletenivka, Ohirtseve, Borysivka, Pylna and Striletshna are located in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region on the border with Russia, and according to Russia’s Ministry of Defense are under Russian control.

These are part of what Ukrainian journalists describe as a gray area on the border between Ukraine and Russia.

Furthermore, they write that Russian troops have also taken the town of Keramik, in the east of the Donetsk region. Here, Russian forces have made slow but steady progress in recent months.

Over 1,700 on the run

Kharkiv Governor Oleh Synjehubov stated earlier on Saturday that 1,775 people have been evacuated from various parts of the county. At least three people have been killed in artillery and airstrikes in more than 30 different cities in Kharkiv Oblast.

AFP writes that people arrive in an evacuation area outside Kharkiv city in vans. With them, they have as many travel bags as they could get with them.

Many of the evacuees are elderly, and they are supervised by health personnel and given food in tents.

Attack in Luhansk

An airstrike in the Russian-occupied Luhansk region has also caused an oil depot to catch fire. The attack left four dead and eight wounded.

Russian military bloggers have commented that the attack could mark the start of a Russian attempt to create a “buffer zone”, which President Vladimir Putin has previously promised to create.