conflict enters ‘protracted phase’, says Ukrainian defense minister

Update on the situation on the ground

Moscow announced on Tuesday the surrender of 265 Ukrainian soldiers entrenched in the huge Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol, the last pocket of resistance against the Russian army, in this strategic port in southern Ukraine, on the Sea of ​​Azov. This evacuation makes the complete fall of the city even more inevitable, almost completely destroyed after about three months of incessant fighting and bombing. Its total conquest would allow Russian forces to facilitate the junction between Crimea, to the south, and Donbass, to the east.

HAS Severodonetska city that has become a regional capital for Ukrainians since pro-Russian separatist forces seized part of Donbass in 2014, “at least 10 people were killed” in Russian bombardments, the governor of the region announced on Monday. This city is almost surrounded by enemy soldiers.

The Ukrainians regained control of part of the border with Russia in the region of Kharkovassures kyiv, which expects that the disengaged units of the region will go to reinforce the Russian troops in the Donbass, where they progress only with difficulty.

Eight people died and 12 were injured on Tuesday in a Russian strike on Desna, a Ukrainian village north of kyiv known to house a large military training camp, according to local relief. Russian long-range Kalibr missile fire near the railway station in Starichi, in the Lviv region, destroyed shipments of American and European military equipment intended for Donbass and caused the death of Ukrainian reservists, according to the Russian Ministry of Defense. He also confirmed the strike on Desna and another training camp, at Okhtyrkain the Sumy region to the north.

source site-29