Kiev / Slovenesk, Ukraine, June 8 (Reuters) – Ukrainian forces returned to the industrial city of Siverodonetsk on Wednesday in the face of heavy Russian offensive, the regional governor said. The bloody wars of war.
Russia has concentrated its troops and gunfire in the small eastern city in recent weeks to defend the surrounding province on behalf of separatist proxies. Ukraine has vowed to fight there as much as possible, saying the war will help shape the future course of the war.
The governor of the surrounding Luhansk region said on Wednesday afternoon that much of the city was back in Russian hands, after he had pushed back Russian forces last week and claimed to have defended half of the city in a surprise counterattack.
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“… our (forces) are now controlling only the suburbs of the city again. But the fighting is still going on … it cannot be said that the Russians are completely controlling the city,” Sergei Kaitoi told RBC-Ukrainian media. .
He predicted that Russian forces would step up their bombardment of both Siverodonetsk and its small twin city, Lysyansk, on the west bank of the Shivarsky Donets River.
Ukrainian police have released footage showing the evacuation of an elderly man from Lisiான்ansk. The evacuation was reduced to almost a week by shelling on the main road.
Russian forces have 10 times more equipment than Ukrainian troops in some parts of Siverodonetsk, Ukraine’s Defense Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motsiyanik told a conference. Ukraine has urged its Western allies to expedite arms supplies, saying the situation could get worse if Russia breaks its borders in the east.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the ground conditions in Sverdlovsk.
Moscow claims to be engaged in a “special military operation” to disarm and “reduce” its neighbors. Ukraine and its allies claim that Moscow has launched an unprovoked war of aggression, killing thousands of civilians and leveling cities. UN figures show that more than 7 million people have crossed the border into Ukraine since Russia’s invasion on February 24.
‘God Saved Me’
Luhansk and the neighboring province of Donetsk form the Donbass, which has been claimed by Moscow since 2014 for its proxies occupying the eastern part of the region. Moscow is attacking the Ukrainian-controlled Donbass region from the north, east and south. To encircle Ukrainian forces in the area.
Women with small children lined up to collect aid, while other residents carried buckets of water across the city, west of Siervirodonetsk in Slovenes, one of Ukraine’s main Donbass cities.
Most of the residents fled, but officials say about 24,000 people are staying in the city in the wake of an expected offensive that Russian forces will reunite in the north.
Albina Petrovna, 85, described the moment her building was trapped in an attack, which shattered her windows and destroyed her balcony.
A pigeon flies over an apartment building destroyed in a missile attack on June 7, 2022, in the middle of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in Slovenes, Ukraine. REUTERS / Gleb Garanich
“The broken glass fell on me, but God saved me, I have scratches everywhere …” she said.
Russia has turned its attention to the Donbass since its forces were defeated on the outskirts of Kiev in March.
In the last 24 hours, two people were killed and two wounded in the Luhansk region, five civilians were injured in the Donetsk region, four were killed and 11 were injured in the Kharkiv region, according to the office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zhelensky.
In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city, residents were clearing debris from a shelling attack the previous day. Ukraine pushed back Russian forces from the city’s suburbs last month, but Russia still attacks from time to time.
CCTV footage A missile struck a shopping mall that included a supermarket late Tuesday, scattering debris and items. Scenes shot from a drone showed a gap in the roof of a large building.
“The support pillars have been completely destroyed,” said Svitlana Tulina, manager of the supermarket, who said no one was injured in the attack.
The Book of Executioners
Zhelensky said Ukraine would next week publish a “book of convicts” describing war crimes. read more
Ukraine has launched more than 16,000 investigations into potential war crimes, filed eight court cases and identified 104 suspects, its attorney general said. Moscow has denied allegations that its forces committed crimes. read more
Ukraine is one of the world’s largest grain exporters, and Western nations accuse Russia of creating the risk of creating a global famine by besieging Ukraine’s Black Sea ports. Moscow blames Western sanctions for food shortages
Turkey, a NATO member with good relations with both Russia and Ukraine, is seeking brokerage talks to open Ukrainian Black Sea ports. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu hosted Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov for talks and said the deal would be possible with further UN support for ports through further talks. read more
Ukrainian ports could be opened, but Lavrov said Ukraine would have to demine them first. Ukraine has rejected Russia’s promises as “empty words” and said Russian attacks on farmland and farmland in the south would exacerbate the crisis.
Russian news agencies have reported that the administration, established by Russia in the occupied territory of Zaporizhia in southern Ukraine, plans to hold a referendum on joining Russia later this year. And Russian-established authorities in the western Kherson province have announced similar plans.
Ukraine and its Western allies consider the planned referendum in the occupied territories to be illegal and prove that Russia’s real motive is regional aggression. read more
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Report by Reuters; Written by Himani Sarkar, Gareth Jones and Filippa Fletcher; Editing by Michael Perry, Peter Groff and Alex Richardson
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