The governor of the Lugansk region said yesterday that Ukrainian forces may have to withdraw from the strategic eastern Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk, which is “bombing around the clock” the better fortified positions of Severodonetsk. Heavy fighting continued yesterday for control of the city.
The Russians claim they have “completely liberated” the residential areas of this strategic city in order to control the entire coal mine-rich Dubna basin in eastern Ukraine.
But this was denied in Kyiv. The General Staff of Ukraine confirmed yesterday morning that “our fighters managed to repulse the attack in the city of Severodonetsk”, noting that Russia will intensify its operations in Bakhmut, Donetsk region.
Sergei Gaidai, governor of the Luhansk region, which together with Donetsk makes up the Donbas basin, wrote on the Telegram app that “they don’t control the city,” but acknowledged that it was “very difficult to keep Severodonetsk” and even spoke of “mission impossible.”
Gaidai said: “The enemy, the Russian army, mobilized all forces and all precautions to cut off the great road Lischansk-Bakhmut in order to capture Severodonetsk. Lysechansk is being heavily bombed.”
Severodonetsk and Lysichansk, separated by a river, are the last two Ukrainian-controlled cities in the Luhansk region, and their fall would open the way for the Russians to the large city of Kramatorsk in the Donetsk region.
For his part, President Zelensky, in his daily video speech on Tuesday evening, said that “there have been no significant changes at the front over the past 24 hours” and that “the heroic defense of Donbass continues.”
Zelensky said that “more than 31,000 Russian soldiers were killed in Ukraine”, adding that “since February 24, Russia has been paying for this absurd war with the lives of 300 of its soldiers every day.” Acceptable”.
Zelensky said that The Book of Executions will be published next week and the book will include data on war crimes and Russian soldiers accused of them, and Zelensky said: The book will include the names of the people who gave the orders.
The Ukrainian president said: “I have repeatedly stressed that they will all be held accountable, and we are moving towards this step by step,” and once again promised that “everyone will be held accountable.”
In late May, the Ukrainian judiciary said it had uncovered “several thousand” cases of alleged war crimes in Donbas.
There are no numbers to verify, but pro-Russian separatist leader Denis Pushilin confirmed Tuesday’s assassination of Russian general Roman Kutuzov, and a number of Russian generals have been killed since February, but Moscow rarely talks about his losses.
The two opposing sides accuse each other of destroying grain resources and exacerbating the global food crisis.
On Tuesday evening, the Ukrainian Operational Command of the Southern Front denounced “those who claim to be concerned about the global food crisis and are actually targeting agricultural fields and agricultural infrastructure where massive fires are breaking out,” referring to Russian bombing raids nearby. Nikolaev (south).
At the same time, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed that the Ukrainian security forces “deliberately set fire to a large grain warehouse” in the Mariupol port.
“More than 50,000 tons of grain have been spoiled,” Russian General Mikhail Mezintsev said, accusing the Kyiv regime of “food terrorism against its own people.”
Russia is “ready” together with Turkey to ensure the safety of the exit of grain carriers
Yesterday, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov confirmed that Russia is “ready” to ensure the safety of ships carrying grain leaving Ukrainian ports in cooperation with Turkey.
“We are ready to ensure the safety of ships leaving Ukrainian ports in cooperation with our Turkish colleagues,” he said during a press conference with his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.
Turkey offered, at the request of the UN, assistance in escorting these convoys from Ukrainian ports, despite the presence of mines, some of which were discovered off the Turkish coast amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Cavusoglu believed that “the UN plan is logical and achievable. Ukraine and Russia must accept this.” Ukraine, the world’s fourth largest exporter of corn, was on the verge of becoming the world’s third largest exporter of wheat prior to the Russian invasion.
The conflict in Ukraine since February 24 has driven food prices up, threatening starvation in countries dependent on Ukrainian exports, especially in Africa and the Middle East.
