Over 6,700 civilians, including 535 children, evacuated from border area of Kharkiv region

This was reported by the State Emergency Service of Ukraine. 

It indicated that the evacuation of citizens is carried out by employees of the SES and the National Police, together with volunteers and representatives of local communities. SES psychologists are also working with them to provide people with psychological support. People in the region are constantly warned about the need to leave due to active hostilities. 

"In total, more than 6,700 people have been evacuated from the border settlements of Kharkiv region, including 535 children and 128 people with limited mobility," the SES said. 

Battles with occupying Russian forces in Ukraine’s Kharkiv region

On May 10, Ukraine's Defense Ministry reported that the Russian occupation army had intensified attacks in the northern sector. Around 5 a.m., the enemy tried to break through the Ukrainian defense in the Kharkiv region. The Ukrainian Defense Forces met the invading forces with fire.

At 11:00 p.m. on May 10, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that defensive battles were currently underway in the Kharkiv region. Counterattacks continue in the directions of Lyptsi and Vovchansk. The Russian army is using infantry and equipment. 

On May 10, 1,775 civilians were evacuated from the districts of Kharkiv region that are constantly under intense Russian fire.

Subsequently, the Atesh guerrilla movement reported that the Russian military refused to attack Kharkiv. The Russian occupation troops also began to apply new tactical signs to their vehicles, probably denoting a group operating in the north of Kharkiv region.

The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) believes that Russian offensive operations along the border in Kharkiv region are likely to have a strategic goal of drawing and consolidating Ukrainian forces on this axis to enable Russian advance into other areas of eastern Ukraine.

On May 11, Russian troops launched over 20 attacks with guided aerial bombs on Vovchansk and the surrounding area, resulting in two deaths. 441 people were evacuated from the community.

On May 12, the Russian Defense Ministry announced the expansion of Russian control to 4 more villages in the northern part of Ukraine's Kharkiv region. A day earlier, the aggressor country's statement referred to 5 border villages. 

The head of the State Special Transport Service, Oleksandr Yakovets, said that the fortification of defensive structures in the Kharkiv region is being carried out in several areas.

As of 12:40 a.m. on May 13, the operational situation in the Kharkiv direction remained complicated and dynamically changing.  Russia has achieved tactical success. 

During the day, Russian troops did not attack the city of Kharkiv, but more than three dozen settlements in the region were subjected to artillery, mortar and air strikes.

After the Russian troops broke through the defense line in the Kharkiv region, the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Oleksandr Syrskyi, replaced the commander of the Kharkiv Operational and Strategic Group of Forces. He appointed Mykhailo Drapatyi instead of Yuriy Halushkin.

On May 13, Kharkiv Regional Council deputy Oleksandr Skoryk reported that Russian troops were beginning to surround Vovchansk from one side, the city was almost destroyed.