The Russian forces achieved field gains in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which together make up the Donbass Basin, while they bombed cities and towns, causing significant damage to the infrastructure in eastern Ukraine.
Serhiy Gaidai, governor of the Lugansk region, said that Russian forces entered Severodonetsk, the largest city controlled by Ukraine in the eastern Donbass region, after a continuous attempt for days to besiege the Ukrainian forces.
“The Russians will not be able to control the Lugansk region in the coming days, as analysts expected,” Gaidai said on Telegram, referring to Severodonetsk and Lysechansk on the other side of the Severekedonets River.
The Ukrainian official added: “We will have enough strength and resources to defend ourselves. But it is possible to retreat in order to avoid being surrounded.”
On the other hand, Moscow’s separatist proxies say they now control Lyman, a major rail hub to the west of Severodonetsk.
Ukrainian officials noted that Russia had captured most of the city, but added that Ukrainian forces were blocking the advance to Sloviansk, a city half an hour’s drive from Lyman to the southwest.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Ukraine protects its territory “as far as our current defense resources allow.”
“If the occupiers think that Lyman and Severodonetsk will be theirs, they are wrong. Donbass will be Ukrainian,” Zelensky added in a televised speech.
expensive
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson told Bloomberg TV on Friday that Putin “continues to advance in the Donbass at a heavy price to himself and the Russian army.”
Russian forces advanced in Donbass after breaching Ukrainian lines last week in the city of Popasna, south of Severodonetsk.
The British Ministry of Defense reported that Russian ground forces had taken control of several villages northwest of Popasna.
The Russian advance in the east follows a Ukrainian counterattack that pushed Russian forces away from Kharkiv this month, but Moscow prevented Ukrainian forces from attacking the back lines of Russia’s supply lines to Donbas.
On Thursday, Russian forces bombed parts of the city of Kharkiv itself for the first time in days, and local authorities said nine people were killed, while the Kremlin denied targeting civilians.
In the south, where Moscow has also seized swathes of territory since Russia’s military operation began on February 24, Ukrainian officials believe Russia aims to impose permanent rule.
Difficulty leaving
In the north of the Crimea, Henady Lagota, governor of the Kherson region, said in a press briefing that the Russian forces are fortifying their defenses in the region, and bombing the areas controlled by Ukraine on a daily basis.
Lagota indicated that the humanitarian situation is critical in some areas, and that people are facing great difficulty in leaving the territories controlled by the Russian forces, with the exception of a convoy of 200 vehicles that left on Wednesday.
On the diplomatic front, European Union officials said that a deal could be reached by Sunday to ban Russian oil shipments by sea, which make up about 75 percent of the bloc’s supply, but not through pipelines, a compromise to persuade Hungary and start a new round of oil production. Sanctions on Russia.
Zelensky criticized the European Union for its reluctance to impose a ban on Russian energy imports, saying the bloc was funding Moscow’s war efforts with one billion euros a day.
“Every day of procrastination, weakness, various conflicts or proposals to appease the aggressor at the expense of the victim only means more Ukrainians are killed,” the Ukrainian president added.
In a phone call with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, Russian President Vladimir Putin stuck to his position that the conflict-induced global food crisis could only be resolved if the West lifted sanctions.
Nehamer, who visited Russia in April, said Putin had expressed his willingness to discuss a prisoner exchange with Ukraine, but added, “Is he really ready to negotiate? That’s a complicated question.”
The blockade imposed by Russia on Ukrainian ports led to the suspension of grain shipments, which led to a rise in global prices, especially since the two countries are major grain exporters in the world.
Russia accuses Ukraine of laying mines in the ports, while Ukraine describes the Russian position as “blackmail”.
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