Kharkiv is currently not protected enough against Russia's attacks, therefore the issue of returning home for previously evacuated residents is their own decision, President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said.

"As for the return home of Kharkiv residents, you see, I do not think that Kharkiv is so far protected enough for me to advise people return home. This is Kharkiv residents' own choice. That is the situation for today," he said at a joint press conference with Dutch Prime Minister Mark Rutte in Kharkiv on Friday, adding that "if we are protected, and I would even put it differently, when this is done, Kharkiv residents will definitely have signals from me and our military."

"But today we are in war, and we will fulfill the complex tasks I have voiced [strengthening the air defense, attempts to push the Russian army back at a longer distance]," the president said.