Russia lacks strength for breakthrough: military expert on offensive in Kharkiv region

He shared his opinion on Espreso TV.

"The Russian forces have repeatedly tried to attack Borova since the Kharkiv region was liberated and after they retreated to the temporarily occupied Luhansk region," Kovalenko said. "These attempts have been ongoing, but almost all have failed because Ukrainian defense line there is strong. The distance from the contact line to Borova is 22 kilometers. To break through this 22-kilometer distance, 10,000 troops will not be enough."

He compared this to the previous Russian offensive: "At the start of their offensive on May 10, there were 40,000 Russian troops in the Belgorod region. During their intense offensive actions, they managed to advance only 7-8 km into the Kharkiv region, even though 1 to 3 km from the Russian border was mostly a gray zone, not the main line of contact."

Kovalenko stated that the Russian troops would try to break through in the Borova area, but the Ukrainian Armed Forces are ready for this.

"If this information is already available in open sources, then the General Staff and local authorities are aware of it. They are preparing, especially in an area where fighting occurs daily," he added.

• Military expert, Colonel of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Vladyslav Selezniov commented on the information about the build-up of Russian forces for the Borova offensive in the Kharkiv region.