Russia aimed to capture Pechenihy Reservoir, supplying water to Kharkiv — Ukrainian Armed Forces serviceman

He said this on the Espreso TV channel.

"The fact that the Russians have so far managed to go deep into our territory in the Kharkiv region, up to a distance of 3-5 km, is an attempt at a tactical level of task performance. The Russians had a task to infiltrate in small groups in the north of Kharkiv region and gain a foothold before the main forces arrived to create a number of footholds. Their task was to reach the Kharkiv area within fire range and eventually encircle the city from the flanks. Since there are not enough Russian troops in the Kharkiv region to attack Kharkiv head-on," Tymochko explained.

According to the head of the Armed Forces Reservists Council, the Russians' goal was the Oskil Reservoir, with the expectation of taking control of the Siverskyi Donets Canal, which supplies water to the Kramatorsk-Slovyansk agglomeration.  And then try to move on to the Pechenihy Reservoir to take control of the water supply to Kharkiv.

"It was clear that the Russians wanted to carry out explosions to trigger certain environmental disasters. The task was also to sow large-scale panic in Ukrainian society," Tymochko added.  

• In the Kharkiv sector, Russian forces are conducting offensive operations aimed at creating a buffer zone, but the enemy has been stopped, and the situation is under control.
• On Friday, May 24, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy arrived in Kharkiv and held a meeting on the operational situation in the region.