Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, who was due to pay an official visit to Madrid on Friday, has canceled his visit to Spain, the Spanish press confirmed, according to the official program published by the Spanish Royal Palace.
The royal palace updated its program on Wednesday morning, indicating that the planned meeting between King Philip VI and the Ukrainian head of state, as well as the official lunch in honor of Zelensky, had been canceled, without giving any reason why.
The Ukrainian president was also due to visit Portugal, but according to the Portuguese press, this visit is also likely to be canceled.
Ukraine is facing another Russian offensive in the north. Moscow’s new offensive on May 10 threatens Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, some 30 kilometers from the Russian border.
The Ukrainian army announced on Tuesday evening that it would have to withdraw from some areas of the northern front in the Kharkiv region.
“In some areas, near Lukyanets and Vovchansk, in response to enemy fire and infantry attacks, our units maneuvered towards more favorable positions to save the lives of our soldiers and avoid casualties. The battle continues,” the Ukrainian general staff wrote on social media
“Ukrainian units are preventing the Russian invaders from gaining a foothold. Counterattacks are being carried out, and artillery and drone units of the defense forces are keeping the enemy under constant control,” the Ukrainian general staff further noted.
The situation in Vovchansk, the largest city targeted by the current Russian offensive, is “critical,” Tamaz Gambarashvili, head of the local military administration, admitted on Tuesday, reporting “continuous shelling” and fighting on the outskirts of the city.
The Ukrainian army general staff said the Russians were achieving “tactical successes,” with some 30 villages under enemy control. Some 7,000 people have been evacuated from the area.
The influential Russian military blogger Rybar noted that the attack was “reconnaissance in force” and did not amount to a full-scale invasion. Notably, the blogger wrote that Russian forces were penetrating only 2 to 3 kilometers into Ukraine along the border, with the attacks designed to probe and weaken defenses. However, Russia has a larger force that it has not yet deployed across the border,
Few military analysts believe Russia has the forces to conquer Kharkiv and that the move in the region is designed to draw forces away from battles in the southeast, namely near the city of Chasiv Yar. Furthermore, the offensive may be designed to make Kharkiv itself uninhabitable and create a “gray zone” near the Russian border.
Russia is rushing to mobilize 300,000 soldiers on top of the already 500,000 in the country. Fighting is expected to only pick up in intensity over the coming months, as Russia seeks to exploit weaknesses in Ukraine’s lines before U.S. weapons begin to flow to Ukrainian forces. There are concerns from the West that Ukraine’s lines, which are stretched very thin, may reach a breaking point, allowing Russian forces to break through in certain areas.
