On Monday, Russian forces intensified their attack on Severodonetsk (the largest city controlled by Ukrainian forces in the eastern Donbass region), while Kyiv expressed the hope that Western countries would soon provide it with longer-range weapons.
The Ukrainian governor of Lugansk region, Sergey Gaidai, said that Russian forces were advancing from the outskirts to the center of the city of Severodonetsk, describing the fighting inside the city’s neighborhoods as fierce.
According to Gayday, a million people are trapped inside the city without water or electricity, accusing Germany and Hungary of delaying the transfer of Western weapons to Ukraine. “Unfortunately, we have disappointing news, the enemy is advancing into the city,” he said.
He explained that the neighboring city of Lysichansk is still under Ukrainian control, and the main road leading to the two cities was bombed, but it was not closed.
Russian strategy
“The Russian army uses the same tactics over and over; it bombs for several hours; 3, 4 and 5 hours in a row, then attacks, and then comes more bombing and attack, until progress is made somewhere,” Gaidai said.
Gaidai said last Friday that the troops may have to withdraw from the city to avoid capture. It was not clear if the troops had begun to withdraw.
In turn, The Washington Post said that Russian forces are making gradual and steady progress in eastern Ukraine, following regrouping, and that they regularly use heavy bombers and long-range artillery in their progress.
The newspaper reported that the Russian army approached the control of the strategic city of Severodonetsk in Lugansk, and indicated that this portends the Russian takeover of the entire Lugansk region, which constitutes regarding half of Donbass.
With the escalation of fighting in eastern Ukraine, especially in the Donbas region, the Russian Information Agency quoted Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov as saying that “liberating Donbass” in eastern Ukraine is an absolute priority for Moscow, while other Ukrainian regions can decide their own fate, as he put it.
In a related context, the Ukrainian forces announced that they had repelled 14 Russian attacks along the eastern and southern front lines.
A statement by the General Staff stated that the Russian forces began assembling their forces in Lyman (north of the city of Kramtorsk) in preparation for the attack on the adjacent city of Slavyansk.
heavy losses
British military intelligence said that Russia appears to have suffered heavy losses in the ranks of low- and middle-ranking officers in its conflict with Ukraine, which increases the prospects of a decline in its military effectiveness in the future.
And intelligence confirmed – in a report published by the British Ministry of Defense on Twitter – that battalion and brigade leaders are now deployed in the most dangerous locations, while lower-ranking officials are leading low-level tactical operations.
The report added that the shortage of experienced and credible divisional commanders might lead to a further decline in morale and continued poor discipline, especially with the recurrence of numerous “credible” reports of internal insurrections among members of Russian forces in Ukraine.
More weapons
On the other hand, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine relies on its partners to provide it with everything necessary to protect freedom, asking for more weapons from the West.
Zelensky added – in the first field tour to Kharkiv (the country’s second largest city) – that his country’s army is doing everything in its power to deter the Russian attack on Severodonetsk in Lugansk Province.
Zelensky said that the capture of Severodonetsk is a task that seems essential to what he described as the “occupation army”, which does not care regarding the number of lives, as he put it. He accused Russia of seeking to take everything from the Ukrainians to leave them without freedom, homes or life, he said.
The Ukrainian president stressed that Russian forces destroyed 90% of the buildings and infrastructure in the city of Severodonetsk, just as they are trying to destroy peace.
Mikhailo Podolyak, the presidential advisor and Ukrainian negotiator, called once more for the delivery of US-made long-range multi-barrel missile launchers to his country.
“It’s hard to fight when you are under attack from 70 kilometers away and you have nothing to respond with, we need effective weapons,” Podolyak wrote on Twitter.
US officials told Archyde.com that sending such systems was being seriously considered, with a decision likely to be made in the coming days.
On Saturday, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said that Kyiv had started receiving Harpoon anti-ship missiles from Denmark and US self-propelled howitzers.
Western moves
In political developments, an extraordinary meeting of European Council leaders will be held today in Brussels to discuss the developments of the war in Ukraine and its repercussions on the energy and food security issues.
The EU’s Security and Foreign Policy Commissioner Josep Borrell said the next package of sanctions once morest Russia would be agreed upon, adding that the EU would not fail to impose a ban on Russian oil in the next package.
As for Spanish Foreign Minister Jose Manuel Alparis, he stressed that his country supports the new sanctions package once morest Russia.
French Foreign Minister Catherine Colonna will meet with her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky in Kyiv, on a visit aimed – according to the French Foreign Ministry – to confirm Ukraine’s support in the face of what she described as “Russian aggression”.
Japanese aid
The Japanese government announced an emergency aid package for Ukraine, worth $1.7 million, once morest the backdrop of the Russian attacks.
Foreign Minister Yoshimasa Hayashi said – in a statement yesterday evening – that his country will continue to work with the international community to support Ukraine.
Japan will deliver aid to Ukraine through the United Nations Office for Project Services.