In eastern Ukraine, Russian troops are continuing their attacks on residential and industrial areas in the heavily contested city of Severodonetsk, according to Ukrainian sources. Four people were killed by the shelling of the chemical plant Azot, the governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Hajdaj, wrote on Telegram on Thursday. According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the fate of the Donbass in eastern Ukraine will be decided with this battle.
According to Ukrainian sources, the facility is used by hundreds of civilians as an air raid shelter. However, there is currently no threat of a comparable encirclement by Russian troops as was the case until recently in the port city of Mariupol. The accusation that the Ukrainians lured the civilians into the Azot cellars and then mined the area is repeatedly voiced by the Russian and pro-Russian side. There is no evidence for this. More than 90 percent of the Luhansk Oblast, in which Severodonetsk is located, is already occupied by Russia. The Russian war of aggression on the neighboring country has now lasted three and a half months. The information provided by the warring parties often cannot be independently verified.
“This is a very brutal fight, very hard, maybe the most difficult in this whole war,” said Zelenskyj in a video message regarding the fighting in Severodonetsk. The main theater of war in the area remains Severodonetsk. “It is essentially here that the fate of our Donbass will be decided.” Ukraine’s general staff said on Thursday that the Russian army was attacking with artillery and multiple rocket launchers, targeting civilian infrastructure in Severodonetsk and other locations. Russia denies accusations of attacking non-military targets.
Ukrainian soldiers were recently pushed back to the outskirts of Severodonetsk, which has already been largely destroyed by Russian bombing. According to Ukraine, it still controls the twin city of Lysychansk, which is separated by a river. This is also exposed to heavy bombardment. The two cities are located in the Luhansk region, which together with the Donetsk region forms the Donbass. Before Russia’s February 24 invasion of Ukraine, pro-Russian separatists controlled regarding a third of Donbass.
The Russian military recently shifted the focus of its attack to this predominantly Russian-speaking area following suffering some serious setbacks in other parts of the country – for example when it was repulsed outside the gates of the capital Kyiv in March. The government in Moscow speaks of a “special operation” in the neighboring country. Ukraine and Western countries accuse Moscow of a war of aggression that has now cost tens of thousands of lives. Seven million people have fled Ukraine since February 24, according to the United Nations.
Germany wants to take care of the seriously injured
The German Minister of Health, Karl Lauterbach, wants to offer German help in treating the injured during a visit to Ukraine on Thursday. The SPD politician announced this on Deutschlandfunk. On the one hand, this involves treatment in Germany, but also the care of the injured in the war-torn country itself. Lauterbach specifically mentioned help for people with severe burns and for people who lost limbs in the war.
Lauterbach had announced at short notice on Wednesday evening that he would be traveling to Ukraine at the invitation of the Ukrainian government. Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock (Greens), Development Minister Swenja Schulze (SPD) and Minister of State for Culture Claudia Roth (Greens) have also been there since the beginning of the war. The Russian war of aggression on the neighboring country has now lasted more than three months. (apa, dpa, afp, reuters)
