The Russian military "failed" to launch an offensive in the Kharkiv region, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a video message on social media late on June 8.
After speaking with military commanders earlier in the day, Zelensky said on the X network, formerly Twitter, that Ukrainian forces were "restraining" Russia's advance in the area and "destroying Russian units that are entering our country and terrorizing the Kharkiv region."
He added that this is "a very important result".
Early on May 10, Russian forces began an offensive in the Kharkiv region along the Russian-Ukrainian border, in what analysts described as an attempt to establish a "buffer zone" to protect Russian territory.
Fighting was particularly intense around the town of Vovchansk, which the Ukrainian military said on June 8 remained "largely" under Ukrainian control.
Ukrainian military commander Lt. Gen. Oleksandr Sirski said on May 17 that Russia had expanded the width of the offensive to a line of nearly 70 kilometers in an effort to force Ukraine to deploy forces from its reserves.
Ukraine's military intelligence service HUR reported on June 9 that a drone strike the previous day on an airfield in Russia's Astrakhan region damaged an advanced Su-57 multirole fighter.
The Su-57 is Russia's most modern fighter and is capable of firing Kh-59 and Kh-69 cruise missiles.
"The damage to the Su-57 is the first such case in history," the HUR statement said, noting that the Akhtubinsk airport is located almost 600 kilometers from the front line in Ukraine.
The Russian military reported that 27 Ukrainian drones were intercepted over the occupied Crimea region and over the Russian regions of North Ossetia, Krasnodar, Astrakhan, Belgorod, Bryansk, Rostov and Tula.
It was the first time that Ukrainian strikes were reported in North Ossetia.
Bonus video:
