ウクライナ東部ハルキウ州、避難者数千人に ロシア軍攻撃「ほぼ２４時間」

【ウクライナＡＦＰ＝時事】ロシア軍が１０日に地上攻撃を開始したウクライナ東部ハルキウ州から、これまでに数千人の住民が避難した。検察当局によると民間人４人の死亡が確認されている。（写真は、ロシアの侵攻を受けるウクライナ東部ハルキウ州から逃れてきた住民。同州の避難場所で）
　オレグ・シネグボウ州知事は、ロシアと国境を接する「すべての地域」が「ほぼ２４時間、砲火にさらされている」と報告。ボウチャンシクやその周辺から６０００人近くが避難したとした。
　ロシア軍国防省は１１日、同州の五つの集落を占領したと発表。１２日にはさらに４か所の集落を占領したとし、「敵の防衛線に深く進入した」と述べた。
　ＡＦＰ特派員は１２日、前線に近い避難場所でボウチャンシク方面から逃れてきた一行に遭遇した。高齢者が多く、口々に「家を離れるつもりはなかった」、前夜は「本当に恐ろしかった」などとうろたえ気味に語った。
　避難者の調整に当たっていた警察幹部は、ボウチャンシク周辺は「常に攻撃され続け」、「街のすべてが破壊されている。爆発、大砲、迫撃砲の音が絶え間なく聞こえてくる。敵は総力を挙げて街を攻撃している」と語った。
　ロシア軍が迫る中、推定５００人ほどの市民がまだボウチャンシクに残っている。
　ハルキウ州の警察トップによると、ロシア軍は郊外にいて、街は三方から攻撃されている。
　ウクライナ軍のオレクサンドル・シルスキー総司令官はＳＮＳで、防衛は維持されているが、ハルキウ州の状況は「著しく悪化」していると認めた。
　州都ハルキウ市では、イーホル・テレホフ市長が「起きている事態は把握しているが、ハルキウ（市内）は落ち着いている。出ていく住民は見かけない」と述べ、同市から避難する理由はないとの見解を示している。
　ウォロディミル・ゼレンスキー大統領は１１日、国境周辺の集落でウクライナ軍が反撃に出ていると発言。「ロシアの攻撃計画の妨害が、現在のわが軍の第一の任務だ。主導権を取り戻さなければならない」と述べ、西側の同盟諸国に対し、武器供与の迅速化を改めて要求した。
　一方、ロシアでは１２日、ウラジーミル・プーチン大統領が軍指導部の改革に着手し、セルゲイ・ショイグ国防相を退任させる大統領令を出した。後任にはアンドレイ・ベロウソフ前第１副首相が就く。【翻訳編集ＡＦＰＢＢＮｅｗｓ】
〔ＡＦＰ＝時事〕（2024/05/13-19:00）

Russia said Sunday it had captured four more villages in Ukraine's Kharkiv region, as thousands of residents were evacuated from the offensive in an area where Russian troops were repelled in 2022.
President Volodymyr Zelensky said fierce fighting was under way and governor Oleg Synegubov said all areas of the regional border with Russia were now under enemy fire almost around the clock.
In Moscow, Russian President Vladimir Putin moved to replace defence minister Sergei Shoigu, in what would be a major shake-up of the military leadership.
Across the border in the Russian city of Belgorod, emergency services said 15 people were killed when a residential building was hit by a Ukrainian missile after it was intercepted by air defences.
In Ukraine, local prosecutors said four civilians had been killed in the Kharkiv region in the Russian ground offensive, which was launched on Friday.
The Ukrainian army's top commander said that although the situation was complicated, his forces were managing to hold back further Russian advances.
But Russia's defence ministry said its forces had advanced deeply into the enemy defences, a day after claiming the capture of five villages in Kharkiv region.
At an evacuation point near the front line in the Kharkiv region, AFP reporters on Sunday saw groups of people evacuated from around the border town of Vovchansk, most of them elderly and disoriented.
We weren't going to leave. Home is home, said 72-year-old Lyuda Zelenskaya, hugging a trembling cat named Zhora.
Liuba Konovalova, 70, said she had endured a really terrifying night before her evacuation.
Volunteers assisted evacuees to a few wooden benches where they registered and received food before being evacuated towards Kharkiv, the regional capital.
In the last few days, nearly 6,000 residents in and around Vovchansk have been evacuated, said Kharkiv governor Synegubov.
Defensive battles and fierce fighting continue on a large part of our border, Zelensky said in his evening address.
There are villages that have actually turned from a 'grey zone' into a combat zone, and the occupier is trying to gain a foothold in some of them, or simply use them for further advancement, he said.
A grey zone is territory not fully controlled by either side.
Zelensky added the situation was extremely difficult around Vovchansk.
- 'Everything is being destroyed' -
Speaking at an evacuation point near Vovchansk, Oleksiy Kharkivsky, a senior police officer helping to coordinate evacuations, said the area was constantly under fire.
Everything in the city is being destroyed... You hear constant explosions, artillery, mortars. The enemy is hitting the city with everything they have, he said.
Officials estimated there were still around 500 civilians left in Vovchansk as Russian troops close in.
Volodymyr Tymoshko, head of police in the Kharkiv region, said the town was being attacked on three sides and Russian troops were on the outskirts.
Despite active fighting, the police are still taking out people who live some 300, 500 metres from the contact line at the moment, he told AFP at the evacuation point.
Ukraine's commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrsky said on social media that his army's defences were holding but conceded the situation in the Kharkiv region had deteriorated significantly.
- 'Return the initiative to Ukraine' -
In Kharkiv itself, mayor Igor Terekhov was quoted by the city council as saying there was no reason for people to leave the city despite the offensive.
Despite all the events that are taking place in the region, Kharkiv is calm. We do not see people leaving, he was quoted as saying.
On Saturday, AFP saw groups of people fleeing the border area arriving in vans and cars loaded with bags at a reception centre for evacuees near Kharkiv.
Evacuees -- most of them elderly -- received food and medical assistance.
Zelensky said on Saturday that Ukrainian troops had been carrying out counterattacks in the border villages.
Disrupting Russian offensive plans is now our number one task, he said.
Troops must return the initiative to Ukraine, the president insisted, again urging Western allies to speed up arms deliveries.
Ukrainian officials had warned for weeks that Moscow might try to attack its northeastern border regions, pressing its advantage as Ukraine struggles with delays in Western aid and manpower shortages.
Putin's announcement that Shoigu was being removed as defence minister is expected to be approved by Russia's parliament on Tuesday.
His replacement, Andrey Belousov, has no military background. He has been one of Putin's most influential economic advisers over the last decade.
Shoigu has been named as secretary of the Security Council, replacing long-standing Putin ally Nikolai Patrushev.