Russian forces have attacked across the Ukrainian border to the north of Kharkiv in a potential effort to open a new front in the war and intensify the pressure on Ukraine’s second city.

Ukraine’s defence ministry said there had been “an attempt by the enemy to break through our defence line using armoured vehicles” at about 5am on Friday near the town of Vovchansk, and the initial attacks had been repelled.

There were also reports of fighting in the border villages of Strilecha, Pylna and Borysivka farther west, and that Russian forces had advanced by about 1km around Vovchansk, though these could not be confirmed.

Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, said his country’s forces had been ready for the attack. “Ukraine met them there with troops – brigades and artillery,” he said at a press conference in Kyiv, though he warned that Russia could send more troops to support its fresh attack.

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