Russian-battered eastern Ukrainian city svierodonetsk appeared on the verge of becoming another Mariupol as services and aid cut on Monday and Moscow seeks to capture all UkraineIndustrial Donbass region.
The Luhansk Regional Government Serhi Haidai said the Russians had entered the outskirts of Svyarodonetsk and were moving towards nearby Lisichansk. He said two civilians were killed and five others wounded in the latest Russian shelling in the war.
The Ukrainian military said Russian forces were strengthening their positions in the northeast and southeast of Svyarodonetsk and bringing additional equipment and ammunition to the area to quell their offensive.
Ukrainian officials said, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr said Russian forces stormed Svyarodonetsk after an unsuccessful attempt to encircle it. zelensky described the situation there as “indescribably difficult”. A rapid Russian artillery barrage destroyed vital infrastructure and damaged 90% of the buildings.
Svirodonetsk, located 143 kilometers (89 mi) south of the Russian border, has emerged as a center of the Donbass fighting in recent times. Mariupol is a city on the Sea of Azov that spent nearly three months under Russian siege before the previous Ukrainian fighters surrendered.
Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk extend to the strategically important Siverskiy Donetsk River. They are the last major region under Ukrainian control in Luhansk Province, which makes up the Donbass together with the adjacent Donetsk Region.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told French TF1 television on Sunday that Moscow’s “unconditional priority is the liberation of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions,” adding that Russia sees them as “independent states”. He also suggested that other regions of Ukraine should be able to establish closer ties with Russia.
Ukrainian forces reported heavy fighting around Donetsk, the provincial capital, as well as Lyman to the north, a small town that serves as a major rail hub in the Donetsk region.
“The enemy is strengthening its units,” said the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. “It’s trying to get a foothold in the field.”
Zelensky will address EU leaders on Monday, who are gathering in a new show of solidarity with Ukraine amid divisions over a new series of sanctions targeting Russian oil. He has repeatedly demanded that the EU target Russia’s lucrative energy sector and deprive Moscow of billions of dollars every day in supply payments.
Zelensky met soldiers on Sunday Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, where Ukrainian fighters several weeks ago pushed back Russian forces from a nearby position. Russia continues to bomb the city from afar, and explosions can be heard shortly after Zelensky’s visit. According to regional governor Oleh Sinihubov, shelling and airstrikes have destroyed more than 2,000 apartment buildings in the city since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
In a video address later on Sunday, Zelensky praised the Kharkiv regional authorities, but said he had fired the regional head of the country’s top security agency, the SBU, for his poor performance. Zelensky said that in the wider Kharkiv region, Russian troops still occupied about a third of the territory.
In Luhansk, continued Russian shelling caused provincial governor Serhi Haidai to call a “grave situation”. But some of Luhansk’s supply and evacuation routes worked on Sunday, he said. He claimed that the Russians had retreated around a village near Svyarodonetsk “with losses”, but launched air strikes on another nearby river village.
Svyarodonetsk mayor Oleksandr Streich has estimated that 1,500 civilians have been killed in the city since the war began, from Russian attacks as well as a lack of medicine or treatment.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, questioned the Kremlin’s strategy, saying it was proving costly for Russia and would bring few returns.
In Mariupol on Sunday, an aide to Ukraine’s mayor alleged that after Russia’s military gained full control of the city, they piled up bodies of dead people inside a supermarket. Petro Andryashchenko posted a picture on the Telegram messaging app, which shows dead bodies standing alongside closed supermarket counters. It was not immediately possible to verify his claim.
The Luhansk Regional Government Serhi Haidai said the Russians had entered the outskirts of Svyarodonetsk and were moving towards nearby Lisichansk. He said two civilians were killed and five others wounded in the latest Russian shelling in the war.
The Ukrainian military said Russian forces were strengthening their positions in the northeast and southeast of Svyarodonetsk and bringing additional equipment and ammunition to the area to quell their offensive.
Ukrainian officials said, and Ukrainian President Volodymyr said Russian forces stormed Svyarodonetsk after an unsuccessful attempt to encircle it. zelensky described the situation there as “indescribably difficult”. A rapid Russian artillery barrage destroyed vital infrastructure and damaged 90% of the buildings.
Svirodonetsk, located 143 kilometers (89 mi) south of the Russian border, has emerged as a center of the Donbass fighting in recent times. Mariupol is a city on the Sea of Azov that spent nearly three months under Russian siege before the previous Ukrainian fighters surrendered.
Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk extend to the strategically important Siverskiy Donetsk River. They are the last major region under Ukrainian control in Luhansk Province, which makes up the Donbass together with the adjacent Donetsk Region.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told French TF1 television on Sunday that Moscow’s “unconditional priority is the liberation of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions,” adding that Russia sees them as “independent states”. He also suggested that other regions of Ukraine should be able to establish closer ties with Russia.
Ukrainian forces reported heavy fighting around Donetsk, the provincial capital, as well as Lyman to the north, a small town that serves as a major rail hub in the Donetsk region.
“The enemy is strengthening its units,” said the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces. “It’s trying to get a foothold in the field.”
Zelensky will address EU leaders on Monday, who are gathering in a new show of solidarity with Ukraine amid divisions over a new series of sanctions targeting Russian oil. He has repeatedly demanded that the EU target Russia’s lucrative energy sector and deprive Moscow of billions of dollars every day in supply payments.
Zelensky met soldiers on Sunday Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, where Ukrainian fighters several weeks ago pushed back Russian forces from a nearby position. Russia continues to bomb the city from afar, and explosions can be heard shortly after Zelensky’s visit. According to regional governor Oleh Sinihubov, shelling and airstrikes have destroyed more than 2,000 apartment buildings in the city since Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24.
In a video address later on Sunday, Zelensky praised the Kharkiv regional authorities, but said he had fired the regional head of the country’s top security agency, the SBU, for his poor performance. Zelensky said that in the wider Kharkiv region, Russian troops still occupied about a third of the territory.
In Luhansk, continued Russian shelling caused provincial governor Serhi Haidai to call a “grave situation”. But some of Luhansk’s supply and evacuation routes worked on Sunday, he said. He claimed that the Russians had retreated around a village near Svyarodonetsk “with losses”, but launched air strikes on another nearby river village.
Svyarodonetsk mayor Oleksandr Streich has estimated that 1,500 civilians have been killed in the city since the war began, from Russian attacks as well as a lack of medicine or treatment.
The Institute for the Study of War, a Washington-based think tank, questioned the Kremlin’s strategy, saying it was proving costly for Russia and would bring few returns.
In Mariupol on Sunday, an aide to Ukraine’s mayor alleged that after Russia’s military gained full control of the city, they piled up bodies of dead people inside a supermarket. Petro Andryashchenko posted a picture on the Telegram messaging app, which shows dead bodies standing alongside closed supermarket counters. It was not immediately possible to verify his claim.