2 hours ago
photo source, AFP
Black smoke seen in Severodonetsk, Ukraine on the 7th
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on the 8th (local time) that the outcome of the Eastern Donbas (regions including Donetsk and Lugansk) front in Severodonetsk, Lugansk Oblast depends on the outcome.
“In many ways, the fate of Donbas is determined in Severodonetsk,” said President Zelensky, as the fighting with pro-Russian separatist rebels intensified in Severodonetsk, an industrial city and a strategic point on the Eastern Front.
He said that the Ukrainian army is currently inflicting heavy losses on the enemy in Severodonetsk.
However, a senior Ukrainian official in the area said Ukrainian forces had been pushed out of the city.
Lugansk Governor Serhi Haidai said the Ukrainian special forces retreated as Russian forces “started to completely destroy the area with artillery and airstrikes”.
In an interview with local media, Governor Haidai said, “We [군]”Now once more only the outskirts of the city are under control,” he said. “But the battle continues, and we are defending Severodonetsk.”
“It is impossible to say that Russia has completely acquired Severodonetsk,” the governor added.
According to the governor, regarding 15,000 civilians remain in Severodonetsk and the neighboring city of Lisichansk.
photo source, AFP
Residents of Lisichansk who fled from shelling on the 7th
On the same day (8th), Russia claimed that Ukraine suffered “extreme losses in personnel, weapons, and military equipment” in the Donbas region.
Firepower was concentrated on the Eastern Front as Russian troops withdrew from the area around the Ukrainian capital Kiiu at the end of March.
Most of the Donbas region has fallen under the control of Russian-backed separatist rebels following the 2014-2015 conflict.
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said the Russian invasion had affected 1.6 billion people and warned that the global impact was worsening.
“The impact of this war on food security, energy and finances is systematic and serious, and the pace is accelerating,” Guterres explained.
World Trade Organization (WTO) Director-General Ngoji Okonzo-Iweala also told BBC News that without intervention, the food crisis might last for years.
Okonzo-Iweala said African countries might be particularly hard hit by shortages of wheat and fertilizers.
In fact, millions of tons of grain were stranded in warehouses and Ukrainian ports, without export routes due to the war.
The International Finance Association (IIF), a gathering of experts from the global banking industry, predicted that the Russian economy will contract by 15% by the end of this year and an additional 3% by 2023 due to Western sanctions once morest Russia, mass exodus of companies and collapse of exports.
He warned that the decline might be even greater if Europe completely cuts off Russian energy imports.
Earlier, on February 24, Russia invaded Ukraine under the pretext of demilitarization and “de-Naziization” of Ukraine.
According to the UN, at least 4253 civilians have been killed and 5,141 injured since the start of the war by the 7th of this month, the number of casualties from both sides reached thousands and 14 million people had fled.