Zelenskyy says Ukraine has taken back control in areas of the embattled Kharkiv region

By SAMYA KULLAB and ELISE MORTON
Associated Press

KYIV, Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy says Ukrainian forces have secured “combat control” of areas where Russian troops entered Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region earlier this month. Zelenskyy’s comments on Friday evening appeared to be at odds with those made by Russian officials. Viktor Vodolatskiy, a member of Russia‘s lower house of parliament, said Russian forces now controlled more than half of the town of Vovchansk, three miles (five kilometers) inside the border, Russian state news agency Tass reported Friday. Russia’s Kharkiv push appears to be a coordinated new offensive that includes testing Ukrainian defenses in the Donetsk region further south, while also launching incursions in the northern Sumy and Chernihiv regions.