Russia smashes train tracks in a battered Ukrainian border region where children are being evacuated

A nighttime Russian attack targeted Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, destroying train tracks and rolling stock, officials reported on Friday. This strike also damaged buildings and freight cars, according to Ukrzaliznytsia, Ukraine’s national railway operator. Fortunately, no injuries were reported.

In response to the escalating violence, authorities have organized the evacuation of children from the area. Since Russia began its offensive on May 10, more than 11,000 people have been evacuated from the Kharkiv region, said regional Governor Oleh Syniehubov. On Friday, officials announced a mandatory 60-day evacuation for 123 orphans and children living without their parents in the region.

Russia's intensified offensive in Kharkiv appears to be part of a broader strategy that includes probing Ukrainian defenses in the Donetsk region to the south, while also launching incursions into the northern Sumy and Chernihiv regions.

Ukraine is currently facing significant challenges as it tries to resist its larger adversary, with the conflict seemingly at a critical juncture. The new Russian offensive is further straining Ukraine’s already depleted forces, exhausted from over two years of war. The destruction of the train network adds additional pressure to the overstretched Ukrainian army.

Western aid, particularly air defense systems essential to protect Ukraine's power grid, is not arriving swiftly enough. Additionally, most Western donors restrict Ukraine from using the advanced long-range weapons provided to strike targets within Russian territory. This limitation allows Moscow to assemble troops and deploy missile launchers for cross-border assaults with minimal interference.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy highlighted these constraints, noting that they enabled an attack on Kharkiv, the regional capital, on Thursday, which resulted in seven civilian deaths and 21 injuries. Zelenskyy expressed on social media the urgent need for more air defense systems and long-range capabilities, emphasizing Ukraine's inability to eliminate the sources of Russian attacks near its borders, including missile launchers targeting Ukrainian civilians.

The Thursday strike, carried out with S-300 missiles, hit a printing company and destroyed approximately 50,000 books. Serhii Polituchyi, owner of the Faktor-Druk printing plant, stated that this attack would reduce Ukraine’s book-printing capacity by 30-40%.