Russian President Vladimir Putin on Sunday replaced longtime Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu in a cabinet reshuffle. President Putin begins his fifth term The war with neighboring Ukraine is entering its third year. In accordance with Russian law, the entire Russian cabinet resigned on Tuesday after President Putin held a glittering inauguration ceremony for his new term in the Kremlin.
Most ministers were widely expected to keep their jobs, but Shoigu's fate appeared uncertain.
According to the Kremlin, President Putin on Sunday signed a decree appointing Shoigu as secretary of Russia's Security Council. The appointment, widely seen as a demotion, was announced shortly after President Putin proposed economist Andrei Belousov to be the country's new defense chief.
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The announcement of Shoigu's new role came amid reports that 13 people were killed and another 20 injured in the Russian border city of Belgorod. In Belgorod, a 10-story apartment building was partially destroyed by shelling by Ukrainian forces, Russian officials said. Ukraine has not commented on the incident.
Belousov's candidacy must be approved by parliament's upper house, the Federation Council, but Putin's will is rarely, if ever, challenged by the council or Russia's other government bodies.
The announcement came as thousands more civilians were evacuated from shelters. Resume of Russian ground attack In northeastern Ukraine, towns and villages have been battered by heavy artillery and mortar fire.
Heavy fighting has forced at least one Ukrainian military unit to withdraw from the Kharkiv region, and more land has surrendered to Russian forces beyond poorly defended settlements in a disputed zone along Russia's western border.
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By Sunday afternoon, the city of Vovtyansk, the largest town in the northeast with a pre-war population of 17,000, had emerged as the focus of the fighting. Kharkiv regional police chief Volodymyr Timoshko said Russian troops were on the outskirts of the town and approaching from three directions.
“The infantry fighting has already begun,” he said.
Tymoshko said Russian tanks were spotted along the main road leading into the town, showing the Russian government was confident in deploying heavy weapons.
An Associated Press team in a nearby village saw Russian troops hurling shells and smoke billowing from the town. Evacuation teams worked tirelessly throughout the day to get residents, most of them elderly, out of danger.
At least 4,000 civilians have been evacuated from the Kharkov region since Friday, when Moscow's forces launched the operation, Governor Oleh Sinyevov said in a social media statement. He said heavy fighting broke out along the northeastern front on Sunday, with Russian forces attacking 27 settlements in the past 24 hours.
Analysts say the Russian attack is aimed at taking advantage of ammunition shortages before promised Western supplies reach the front lines.
Ukrainian soldiers said the Kremlin was following the usual Russian tactic of launching disproportionate firepower and infantry charges to wear down its troops. Russian forces are locking down Ukrainian forces in the northeast by intensifying fighting in what was previously a static zone along a 600-mile front, while threatening heavy fighting further south, where Russian forces are also gaining ground. is giving.
This comes after Russia stepped up its attacks in March. Targeting energy infrastructure and villagesAnalysts predicted this was a concerted effort to create the conditions for an attack.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said stopping Russian aggression in the northeast was a priority and Kiev forces continued counterattack operations in seven villages around the Kharkov region.
“Deterring Russia's offensive intentions is now our top priority. Achieving that mission depends on every soldier, every sergeant, and every officer,” President Zelenskiy said. .
Russia's Defense Ministry announced Sunday that Russian troops had captured four border villages along Ukraine's Kharkiv region, in addition to the five villages reported to have been captured on Saturday. These areas may have been poorly defended due to the dynamic fighting and constant heavy artillery bombardment, which facilitated the Russian advance.
Although the Ukrainian leadership does not recognize Moscow's victory, commanders acknowledge the difficult battle in the northeast. Ukrainian military units said they were forced to retreat in some areas and Russian forces captured at least one more village late Saturday.
In a video Saturday night, the Khostly Kartuzhi unit, part of the Ukrainian National Guard special forces, said they were fighting for control of the village of Hryboke.
“Today, heavy fighting took place, and our garrisons were forced to retreat from several more positions. And today another settlement came completely under Russian control. As of 20:00, Hlibok “The fight for the village continues.” The fighters said in the video:
The Institute for War Research said on Saturday that it believed Moscow's claims that it had captured Strylecha, Pirna, Pletenivka and Bolsivika were accurate, and that geolocated video also showed that Russian forces had captured Molokhovets and Olnikove. He said it seems like there are. A Washington-based think tank called recent Russian advances “tactically significant.”
Early in the war, Russia tried unsuccessfully to quickly raid Ukraine's second-largest city, Kharkiv, but retreated from the outskirts after about a month. Seven months later, in the fall of 2022, Ukrainian forces drove them out of Kharkov. The bold counterattack helped convince Western powers that Ukraine could defeat Russia on the battlefield and was worthy of military support.
