Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Friday that his country's forces had secured "combat control" of areas where Russian troops advanced earlier this month in northern parts of the Kharkiv region.

Zelenskyy's comments, made in his nightly video address after holding a meeting of military and regional officials in Kharkiv, appeared to be at odds with comments made by Russian officials.

Viktor Vodolatsky, a member of Russia's State Duma or the lower house of parliament, was quoted by TASS news agency as saying that Russian forces controlled more than half the territory of the town of Vovchansk, five kilometers inside the border.

Vodolatsky said that once Vovchansk was secured, Russian forces would target three cities in Ukraine's eastern Donetsk region – Sloviansk, Kramatorsk and Pokrovsk.

Russian forces pushed into border areas of Ukraine's Kharkiv region earlier this month and Russia's Defense Ministry said they had secured control of about 12 settlements.

Zelenskyy and other Ukrainian officials had been reporting success in "stabilizing" the area.

The Ukrainian military's General Staff, in its evening report on Friday, said the situation in Vovchansk was "tense but controlled by the defense forces."

(With input from Reuters)