Russia advances in battle for key city in eastern Ukraine

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Russia has said its forces seized a village near the industrial city of Severodonetsk in Ukraine, a main target in Moscow’s drive to control the country’s east.

The Defense Ministry said on Sunday that it had won Metyolkine, a settlement of fewer than 800 people before the war began. The Russian state news agency TASS reported that many Ukrainian fighters had surrendered there.

Ukraine’s military said Russia had “partial success” in the area, which is about 6 km (4 miles) southeast of Severodonetsk.

After failing to take the capital Kyiv earlier in the war, Russian forces have focused on trying to take full control of the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces, which together comprise the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Parts of Donbas were already in the hands of Russian-backed separatists before the February 24 invasion.

Ukrainian soldiers fire on Russian positions with an M777 howitzer.
Ukrainian soldiers fire on Russian positions from a US-supplied M777 howitzer in the eastern Donetsk region of Ukraine. [Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo]

Moscow said on Sunday that its offensive to seize Severdonetsk was proceeding successfully.

Lugansk Governor Serhiy Haidai told Ukrainian television that the fighting made evacuations from the city impossible, but that “all Russian claims that they control the city are lies. They control the main part of the town, but not all of the town.”

Among the communities around Severodonestk, Haidai told Ukrainian television that a Russian attack on Toshkivka, 35 km (22 miles) to the south, “had a certain degree of success.”

The UK Ministry of Defense said on Sunday that both Russia and Ukraine have continued heavy bombardment around Severodonestk “with little change on the front line”.

The UK military assessment said the morale of Ukrainian and Russian combat units in Donbas was likely “variable”.

“Many Russian personnel of all ranks also probably remain confused about the goals of the war. Morale issues in the Russian force are likely to be so significant that they are limiting Russia’s ability to achieve operational objectives,” the ministry tweeted.

Russia continues the bombardment

In Severodonetsk’s twin city of Lysychansk, Russian shelling destroyed residential buildings and private houses, Haidai said. “People are dying on the streets and in bomb shelters,” he added.

He later said that 19 people had been evacuated on Sunday. “We are managing to bring in humanitarian aid and evacuate people as best we can,” Haidai said.

In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, northwest of Lugansk, Russia’s Defense Ministry said its Iskander missiles had destroyed weapons recently supplied by Western countries.

A tram depot destroyed by a Russian missile attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine.
A view shows a tram depot destroyed by a Russian missile attack in Kharkiv, Ukraine [Vitalii Hnidyi/Reuters]

Russian forces were trying to move closer to Kharkiv, which experienced heavy shelling earlier in the war, and turn it into a “front-line city”, a Ukrainian Interior Ministry official said.

In southern Ukraine, Western weaponry had helped Ukrainian forces advance 10 km (6 miles) into Russian-occupied Melitopol, its mayor said in a video posted on Telegram from outside the city.

NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg on Sunday urged Western countries to be prepared to offer long-term military, political and economic support to Kyiv during a grueling war that could last for years.

“We must not weaken in our support for Ukraine, even if the costs are high, not only in terms of military support but also because of rising energy and food prices,” Stoltenberg told German daily Bild.

Germany to remove gas from Russia

Meanwhile, Germany’s economy minister said the country will turn to coal and limit gasoline use for electricity production amid concerns about possible shortages caused by a reduction in gas supplies from Russia.

Germany has been trying to fill its gas storage facilities before the cold winter months.

Economy Minister Robert Habeck said Germany would try to offset the move by burning coal, a more polluting fossil fuel. “That’s bitter, but it’s just necessary in this situation to reduce gas use,” he said.

“It is obvious that [Russian President] Putin’s strategy is to disrupt us by raising the price and dividing us,” Habeck said. “We will not let that happen.”

Russian gas giant Gazprom has said that exports to countries outside the former Soviet Union fell 28.9 percent between January 1 and June 15 compared to the same period last year.

Separately on Sunday, Italy’s state-owned energy exchange revealed that Gazprom said it will only partially meet a gas supply request from Italy’s Eni on Monday, signaling a sixth consecutive daily deficit.

The head of Italian energy giant ENI said on Saturday that with additional gas bought from other sources, Italy should see it through next winter, but warned Italians that “restrictions” affecting gas use might be needed.

Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Thursday that the supply cuts were not premeditated and were related to maintenance problems. Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi has dismissed this explanation as a “lie”.




Reference-www.aljazeera.com

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