Russian forces pushed further into the Kharkiv region in north-eastern Ukraine over the weekend, in a move that analysts said was more likely to be aimed at drawing Ukrainian units away from the eastern frontline than a bid to take the country’s second-largest city.

Russia’s Ministry of Defense claims to have captured five villages in the Kharkiv Region on the border with Ukraine, while Ukrainian authorities have disputed this and say the “fighting continues.”

Thousands more civilians have fled Russia’s renewed ground offensive in Ukraine’s northeast that has targeted towns and villages with a barrage of artillery and mortar fire.