Russian troops have occupied five Ukrainian border villages north of Kharkiv, the Defence Ministry in Moscow announced on Saturday, largely confirming unofficial Ukrainian reports. The villages named were Strilecha, Krasne, Pylne and Borisivka, located around 30 kilometres north of Kharkiv near the town of Lyptsi, as well as Ohirtseve near the city of Vovchansk. The Russian army claimed to have eliminated a large number of Ukrainian soldiers and destroyed their equipment in the offensive, which began on Thursday night. This has not been independently confirmed, however. Moscow reported that 34…