Situation In Kharkiv 'Incredibly Dire': U.S. Expects 'Real Difference' Following Military Aid

As Russian forces continue to attack Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv, seeking to build on recent gains in Ukraine’s strategically important northeastern region, the U.S. officials said on Thursday that they expect "real difference" on the battlefield following the latest military aid that was announced by Secretary of State during his trip to Kyiv, TURAN's Washington correspondent reports.

"Obviously the situation is incredibly dire...  We know that this is a challenging time, but we are sure that military aid is also going to make a real difference on the battlefield," State Department's Principal Deputy Spokesperson Vevant Patel told a daily briefing when responding to TURAN's questions about Secretary Blinken's assessment of the situation on the ground .

"The Secretary [of State] yesterday announced $2 billion in additional assistance in Foreign Military Financing to establish not just the Ukraine defense enterprise program and further enhance Ukraine’s capability to defend against Russia and its continued assault as well," Patel explained.

Ukrainian officials said Friday morning that Russian forces had advanced 10 kilometers into the Kharkiv region. In the meantime, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told reporters that Ukrainian forces had now “stabilized” the situation.

“Today, our defence forces have stabilised the Russians where they are now. The deepest point of their advance is 10 km,” Zelenskyy was quoted as saying.