Reports from Kyiv and milbloggers suggest hundreds of Russian troops may be encircled at a chemical plant amid some of the heaviest combat in the Ukraine war to date.
Several hundred Russian troops may be surrounded by enemy forces in Ukraine’s northern city of Vovchansk, according to recent reports.
Videos posted on social media over the weekend appear to support claims that dozens of Russian troops have surrendered to Ukraine in the Kharkiv region after an attempted assault on a chemical facility in Vovchansk.
The footage and reports raise further questions about Russian President Vladimir Putin’s decision to open another front in Kharkiv and the wider prospects of the Northern offensive.
« This video shows that at least 24 Russian soldiers have been taken POW. Around 400 soldiers were holed up in the complex consisting of 20+ buildings », Visegrad24, a pro-Ukraine Eastern European news outlet, posted on X on Sunday, June 16.
« The russians are surrounded here with zero chances of evacuation or reinforcements », Ukraine’s AzovSouth battalion’s official channel wrote on X on Saturday, adding a map of the chemical plant’s location.
The videos, which Newsweek is unable to verify independently, would add weight to frontline reports of major problems encountered by Putin’s forces as they seek to establish a « buffer zone » in Ukraine’s northern region bordering Russia.
A Russian milblogger’s Telegram post on June 14 appeared to suggest that an unspecified number of Russian servicemen were isolated in the Vovchansk Aggregate Plant, possibly encircled by Ukrainian forces.
