Ukrainian forces have been managing to push back Russian troops in fierce fighting in Sievierodonetsk despite Moscow “throwing all its might” to capture the key eastern city.Ukrainian officials said on Saturday. In an interview broadcast online, Luhansk regional governor Sergiy Gaiday said the Russian military had taken control of most of Sievierodonetsk, but Ukrainian forces were still pushing them back.
However, according to the Russian military, some Ukrainian military units have been withdrawing from Sievierodonetsk. “Some units of the Ukrainian army, which suffered critical losses during the fighting for Sievierodonetsk, are withdrawing towards Lysychansk,” Sievierodonetsk’s twin city, which lies just across a river, the Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said Moscow’s anti-aircraft forces have shot down dozens of Ukrainian weapons and are “cracking them like nuts.”in an interview that aired Saturday. According to Reuters, Russia’s RIA news agency, which first cited the comments, quoted Putin responding to a question about US-supplied weapons as saying Russia was dealing with it easily and had already destroyed the weapons by the dozens.
Kyiv has rebuked French President Emmanuel Macron for saying it was important not to “humiliate Russia”. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted in response: “Calls to avoid humiliation of Russia can only humiliate France and any other country that asks for it. Because it is Russia that is humiliating itself. It is better that we all concentrate on how to put Russia in its place. This will bring peace and save lives.”
Western sanctions would not have an effect on Russia’s oil exports, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said. Lavrov also forecast a significant rise in earnings from energy shipments this year, Russian news agency Tass reported.
EU decision to extend sanctions against Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko to his wife is “irrational” because he has never held Russian citizenship or resided in Russia, a representative for the couple said. The EU sanctioned Melnichenko’s wife on Friday as part of a sixth round of sanctions against Russia for waging war against Ukraine.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said that while it was impossible to predict when the war would end, “My optimistic forecast is that it is realistic to achieve it this year”Reuters quoted the Defense Ministry as saying.
Negotiations with Russia will only resume after new weapons arrive from the west and Ukraine’s position is “strengthened”said David Arakhamia, a member of Ukraine’s negotiating group with Russia. Another negotiator, Mykhailo Podolyak, said there was no point in engaging in talks with Russia until Moscow’s forces were pushed back as far as possible towards Ukraine’s borders.
Ukrainian intelligence services are in communication with hundreds of captured Azovstal steelworks fighters. and Kyiv is doing everything possible to secure their release, according to Ukraine’s Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskiy. Ukraine wants the fighters to be returned in a prisoner exchange. However, some Russian officials have said the forces could face trial or execution.
The United States expressed its support for international investigations into war crimes committed in Ukraine, the US embassy in Kyiv announced. “Those responsible for war crimes, including direct perpetrators and those who ordered them, must face justice,” the embassy tweeted on Saturday.
A famous monastery in eastern Ukraine, Svyatohirsk Lavra, burned down after being hit by Russian bombardment. The monastery is affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate, led by Patriarch Kirill, an ally of Putin. There were reports that four monks died as a result of the attack.
Ukraine’s first lady Olena Zelenska and other officials commemorated the 261 children killed by Russia’s war against Ukraine by hanging bells near Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv. The bells symbolize the voices of the murdered children, Euromaidan Press reported.
Reference-www.theguardian.com