The commander of the Ukrainian army said, on Sunday evening, that Russia is advancing in Lugansk thanks to the superiority of fire, while stressing that his country’s forces succeeded in repelling the Russian forces in Severodonetsk, despite the intensity of the bombing.
The Ukrainian news agency quoted the Ukrainian Chief of Staff Valery Zalogny as saying that the Russian forces are concentrating their efforts in the north of the Lugansk region and are using artillery extensively and have “the advantage of fire superiority.”
The agency stated that Zaloghny told his American counterpart Mark Milley that the Ukrainian forces managed to repel the Russian forces in the town of Severodonetsk, despite the intensity of Russian fire there, noting the situation is “complicated”, especially in Severodonetsk.
The agency quoted Zaloghny as saying that he once more asked Mili to help Kyiv obtain more 155mm artillery systems in the shortest possible time.
Severodonetsk
Russia controls 70% of Severodonetsk
And Al-Arabiya’s correspondent in Ukraine reported earlier, quoting field sources, that the information indicates that Russia has controlled more than 70% of the city of Severodonetsk, noting that the fighting between Ukrainian forces and Russia in the east of the country is in 35 cities and villages.
On Sunday, the Russian army continued to strike the Ukrainian military infrastructure, with the aim of liberating the Donbass lands in eastern Ukraine, while Ukraine continues its desperate defense With financial and military support from the West.
and spin Fierce battles in eastern Ukraine, especially in the cities of Severodonetsk and Lyschansk President Volodymyr Zelensky spoke of “street fighting”.
In the latest developments, the Russian Defense Ministry reported the destruction of a western weapons depot in the Ukrainian Ternopil region with Kalibr missiles, and the shooting down of 3 Ukrainian Su-25 fighters in Kharkiv and Donetsk.
For its part, the British Ministry of Defense warned that Russia is increasing the use of force to gradually seize areas in and around Severodonetsk. The ministry said via “Twitter” that Russia continues to seek to mobilize more combat units and deploy them in Ukraine, noting that Moscow has probably started, in recent weeks, preparing for the deployment of a third brigade of some combat formations. She added that “Russia will mostly rely on recruiting new elements or reservists to be able to advance new units.”
And the Ukrainian General Staff announced, on Sunday morning, that the Russian forces launched attacks on Severodonetsk “without achieving success,” noting that the Ukrainian soldiers repulsed the Moscow army near Vrobivka, Mykolaivka and Vasevka.
The governor of the Lugansk region said that Ukraine still controlled the “Azot” chemical plant in the city of Severodonetsk, where hundreds of civilians are sheltering. “Azot is not besieged, and the fighting is taking place in the streets adjacent to the factory,” he added, in comments broadcast on Ukrainian television. He added, “He expects the Russian forces to exert their utmost efforts and try to control the city, whether today or tomorrow.”
The control of Severodonetsk for Moscow would open the way for another major city, Kramatorsk, in the Donbass Basin, a region that is mainly Russian-speaking and which Russia wants to fully control. Pro-Russian separatists have controlled parts of this mining-rich region since 2014.
A senior US military official predicted that Russia would take control of the entire Ukrainian region of Luhansk within a few weeks.
The US official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, added that the cities of Severodonetsk and Lyset-Shansk in Luhansk might fall within a week, which would lead to Russian control of both Lugansk and Donetsk, which together make up the Donbass region.
This comes as the separatist Lugansk authorities reported, earlier, that civilians began to leave the territory of the “Azot” plant, which is besieged by Russian forces and their ally in the city of Severodonetsk.
The separatist Luhansk ambassador to Russia confirmed that civilians crossed the barrier that is not under the control of the militants and were taken to a safe place, noting that with the narrowing of the circle surrounding the militants, civilians will be able to leave their shelters.
The head of the Russian National Defense Control Center announced that Russian explosive experts have cleared 2,988 hectares of the territory of the Donetsk and Lugansk republics, and have disabled more than 18,000 explosive devices.
He noted that more than 7,500 people left the dangerous areas of Ukraine and the Donbass republics, despite the difficulties created by the Ukrainian side.
He noted that the “Nazis” deployed American-made artillery pieces, heavy military equipment and rocket launchers in educational institutions in the city of Sloviansk in the Donetsk People’s Republic.
This comes as European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen promised, during a surprise visit to Kiev on Saturday, a response “next week” over Ukraine’s candidacy to join the European Union, while the pace of the Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine intensifies.
She said Von der Leyen at a press conference following talks with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky “Today’s discussions will allow us to complete our assessment by the end of next week.”
Ukraine is demanding a concrete “legal commitment” from the Europeans to quickly grant it the status of an official candidate state to join the union, but the 27 countries are divided on the issue.
In a sign of Moscow’s insistence on seizing what the Kremlin considers Russian territory, the pro-Moscow administration in Kherson on Saturday handed over Russian passports to a number of residents of the city occupied by Russian forces in southern Ukraine, according to Russian news agencies.
The official news agency “TASS” reported that 23 residents of Kherson received the first Russian passports during a ceremony, in a “simplified procedure” made possible by a decree signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin at the end of May.
The Russian army is also building a hospital in Lugansk, eastern Ukraine.
For its part, the Military Intelligence Department of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry said, “Russia still has sufficient capabilities to wage a long war on our country.”
“Russia wants to destroy every city in the Donbass, every single one without exaggeration,” Zelensky’s office said Friday evening.
The battle for control of the main city of Severodonetsk and the adjacent city of Lysechhansk is looking increasingly violent.
On the front, the two sides exchanged artillery shelling Saturday. On Saturday evening, the Ukrainian General Staff reported the intensification of Russian artillery fire towards Lyschansk and the bombing of civilian infrastructure in many towns of the region.
President Zelensky said Saturday that “Heavy street fighting continues in Severodonetsk”, noting that Ukrainian forces had recaptured sites such as Tavresky in the Kherson region and in the Zaporizhia region.
Zelensky called for international pressure to be applied to ensure that Russia lifts its blockade of the Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea, which would allow securing the necessary exports to spare the world an international food crisis.
