Ukrainian soldiers from the Steel Border assault brigade entered the villages of Strojivka and Topoli in the Kharkiv region. They are located near the state border with Russia, in the so-called “gray zone”, informed the State Border Guard Service of Ukraine.
The “gray zone” is defined as territory that is not controlled by both Ukrainian soldiers and Russian forces.
The Ukrainian border guard said in a statement on Thursday that Ukrainians could not reach the villages of Strojivka and Topoli after the liberation of the Kharkiv Oblast due to the mining of the area.
SEE ALSO: Russia’s attack on Ukraine. Report in tvn24.pl
“Now, however, the border guards have cleared a safe route to these villages and the first thing they did was to raise the national flag Ukraine” – said the guard.
Ukrainian flag in a village near the border with Russia State Border Guard Service of Ukraine
Part of the Kharkiv region, occupied by Russian occupiers after the outbreak of the armed invasion, was liberated in September last year.
The villages of Strojivka and Topoli are located on the right bank of the Oskoł River, near Kupiansk.
The flag is intended to “lift the spirits” of the inhabitants of the occupied territories
At the end of August, the spokeswoman of the Southern Operational Command, Natalia Humeniuk, announced that Ukrainian soldiers raised the country’s flag on the left bank of the Kherson Oblast, in a town located in the “gray zone”.
Humeniuk said that these actions were intended to “lift the spirits of people remaining under Russian occupation.”
Main photo source: State Border Guard Service of Ukraine