Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has cancelled his upcoming trips abroad as Russia takes further territory in Ukraine's northeastern Kharkiv region, Paralel.Az reports citing Newsweek.

The Ukrainian leader has "instructed that all international events involving him scheduled for the coming days be postponed and new dates coordinated," presidential spokesperson, Sergii Nykyforov, said in a statement on Wednesday.

Russia launched a new offensive over the border into the Kharkiv region on Friday, quickly capturing a number of border villages and concentrating shelling on the city of Vovchansk, around three miles from internationally-recognized Russian territory.

A local official in Vovchansk said on Wednesday that Russian forces were taking up positions in the city. Ukraine's military said late on Tuesday that it had pulled back its soldiers from certain parts of Vovchansk and another Kharkiv village to save the lives of its fighters.