Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Tuesday that Ukraine would struggle to regain all of its territory occupied by Russian forces, as its troops fought a road-to-street battle in Severodnetsk in one of the bloodiest land battles of the war. But the fight was fought.
“We’ve already lost too many people to leave our territory,” Zelensky said by video link at an event organized by Britain. financial Times Newspaper. The standoff was “not an option”, he said. “We have to get full possession of our entire territory.”
Zelensky’s comments strongly responded to suggestions that Ukraine Russia would have to hand over the territory to end the war, which is now in its fourth month. French President Emmanuel Macron said in a recent interview that it was important not to “humiliate” Moscow, with comments in Ukraine interpreted as meaning it should accept some Russian demands.
When asked about Macron’s comments, Zelensky said: “We’re not going to offend anyone, we’re going to respond in kind.”
As they spoke, Ukrainian troops in the ruins of Severodnetsk were trying to cling to an advantage, with Kyiv saying its military launched a surprise counter-offensive that shifted momentum there last week. The battle for the small eastern industrial city has emerged as a crucial battle, with Russia focusing its offensive force in the hopes of achieving one of its stated goals – entirely around Lugansk province on the side of the separatist proxy. to capture from.
‘Holding the Line’
Severodnetsk Mayor Oleksandr Stryk told Ukrainian television on Tuesday that Ukrainian forces were doing everything possible to hold their ground: “Our armed forces have strengthened their position and are holding the line.”
Another local official, Roman Vlasenko, said Ukrainian forces were in control of the city’s industrial area and the Azov chemical plant.
Moscow said its troops were advancing.
Reuters Could not independently confirm the situation on the ground.
Ukrainian officials said their forces launched a surprise counterattack last week, driving the Russians out of a part of the city centre. Earlier, Russia seemed to be on the verge of encircling Ukraine’s garrison in Lugansk, attempting to cut off the main road across the Siversky Donets River to Sverodonetsk and its twin city of Lisichansk.
On Sunday, Zelensky personally made a surprise visit to Lisichansk, demonstrating that Kyiv still had an open route for the redeployment of its troops.
Russia attacked Ukraine on 24 February, saying it aimed to “disarm” and “disarm” the country. Ukraine and its Western supporters say Russia launched an unprovoked war to seize territory.
Russian troops were defeated on the outskirts of the capital Kyiv in March and have since regrouped and intensified an attack in the east, with Kyiv seeking recognition of its territorial claim on the Crimean peninsula. that Moscow took over in 2014, and its separatist proxies claim in Lugansk and Donetsk, the southeastern provinces together known as Donbass.
Russia is trying to encircle Ukrainians in the Donbass from three main directions – east, north and south.
In Ukraine-occupied Druzhkivka in Donetsk province, residents were sifting through the rubble of homes destroyed by the latest shelling.
Nadezhda picked up a pink children’s photo album and kindergarten exercise book from the ruins of her home, and placed them on a shelf that still stands in the rubble. “I don’t even know where to start. I’m standing here watching but I don’t know what to do. I start crying, calm down, then cry again.
‘time to go’
Donetsk regional governor, Pavlo Kyrilenko, told Ukrainian television that as shelling continued along the front line, Russia attempted to push towards Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, the two largest Ukrainian-held cities in Donetsk.
Efforts were underway to evacuate the remaining residents, he said: “People are now understanding, although it is late, that it is time to leave.”
Ukraine’s second city Kharkiv was also hit by shelling early Tuesday, and the local mayor said one person had been killed. The northeastern city was hit by intense bombing in the first two months of the war, but had calmed down in recent weeks after Russian forces retreated into the region.
Viacheslav Shulga, an employee of a pizzeria north of Kharkiv, said there was hope the restaurant could reopen soon after the war broke out.
“Everything is destroyed. We are removing the equipment, there will be no work here right now.” “It’s sad because so much effort was put into it. But our fate is decided by someone else.”
Commodities Terminal Warehouse Targeted
Ukraine is one of the world’s largest grain exporters, and Western countries have accused Russia of creating the risk of global famine by closing Ukraine’s Black Sea ports.
The governor of the area that included the port of Mykolaiv said weekend shelling had destroyed warehouses at one of the country’s largest agricultural commodity terminals.
Moscow denies responsibility for the international food crisis, blaming Western sanctions. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said Russia’s Bardiansk and Mariupol ports of Ukraine are ready to resume grain exports.
Ukraine says any such shipments from territory seized by Moscow would amount to illegal loot. Zelensky said that Kyiv was gradually acquiring a “specific anti-ship system” as the best way to break the Russian blockade of Ukrainian ports.
The Kremlin said that in order to resume exports from Ukraine’s occupied ports, Kyiv must first free them from mines. Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Russia could then inspect and maintain ships in international waters.
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