Russia is pounding its new front in Kharkiv with glide bombs, Kyiv has said.

The Russian army on Monday struck more than 30 towns and villages in Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region after launching a surprise ground offensive over the border last week.

“They are shelling the villages, firing everything they can,” Sergiy Kryvetchenko, deputy head of the Ukrainian military administration in the village of Lyptsi, told AFP.

“The KABs (guided aerial bombs) are flying. The artillery is flying. Drones. Everything,” he said.

The Ukrainian army acknowledged Russia was “achieving tactical success” after the ground assault, which sparked the evacuation of almost 6,000 people.

Russia’s defence ministry said its troops had “improved the tactical position and dealt a blow to [Ukrainian] manpower” around border villages, including Lyptsi, and the town of Vovchansk.

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