(Correction to 1st: Sievierodonetsk is the largest city held by Ukrainian forces in the Luhansk region)
KYIV (Reuters) – Russian forces on Sunday stepped up their attacks on Sievierodonetsk, the largest city held by Ukrainian forces in the Luhansk region, as Kyiv said it hoped to receive long-range weapons from its Western allies soon. door that she badly needs.
As the war has entered its fourth month, Russia has advanced its pawns in recent days in Donbass, a region in eastern Ukraine that includes the provinces of Donetsk and Luhansk.
Russian forces appeared poised to seize the entire Luhansk region on Sunday, matching the Kremlin’s war goal after its assault on the capital, Kyiv, failed in the face of resistance. Ukrainian.
Russia’s Defense Minister said his troops and allied separatist forces have full control of the town of Lyman, a strategic rail hub that opens the way to the major cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar, however, said the battle for Lyman was still going on, the ZN.ua website reported.
The town of Sievierodonetsk, about 60 km northeast of Lyman, came under heavy attack.
“The situation has gotten extremely worse,” said Serhiy Gaidai, governor of Lugansk.
The shelling was so intense that it was not possible to assess the number of victims or the damage, he said, noting however the death of two people on Saturday and the destruction of 13 buildings. .
Russian artillery pounded the Lysychansk-Bakhmut road, which Russia must use to encircle the Ukrainian forces, and the police reported “significant destruction” Lysychansk.
Reuters could not independently verify this information.
Ukrainian presidential adviser and peace negotiator Mikhailo Podoliak reiterated his request for US-made long-range multiple rocket launchers. US officials told Reuters such shipments were being considered and a decision could be made in the coming days.
“It’s hard to fight when you’re attacked 70 km away and you have nothing to fight back…we need effective weapons,” Podoliak wrote on Twitter.
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In a late evening video, President Volodimir Zelenskiy said he hoped Ukraine’s allies would provide the necessary weapons, adding that he expected “good news” in the coming days.
His adviser, Oleksiy Arestovich, said: “The weapons we desperately need will most likely be delivered.”
Ukraine has begun receiving Harpoon anti-ship missiles from Denmark and self-propelled howitzers from the United States, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said on Saturday.
Volodimir Zelenskiy described the military situation in Donbass as very complicated, adding that the defense was holding out in some places, including Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk.
“I am grateful to all who resisted this onslaught,” he said.
Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Serbian counterpart Aleksandar Vucic agreed in a phone call on Sunday that Russia would continue supplying natural gas to Serbia and that the two countries would strengthen their partnership, the Kremlin and Serbian authorities said.
Continuing diplomatic efforts to find a solution to a conflict that has serious consequences beyond the borders of Ukraine, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf Scholz met on Saturday with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
According to the Elyse, the two European leaders urged the master of the Kremlin to lift the blockade of the port of Odessa to allow the export of Ukrainian cereals.
The Kremlin declared for its part that the Russian president had declared himself ready to discuss a solution to allow Ukraine to resume shipments of cereals from the ports of the Black Sea.
Ukraine is a major exporter of cereals, and the blockage of its deliveries could cause food shortages in some countries, particularly in Africa.
Russia claims to be conducting a “special military operation” to demilitarize Ukraine and rid it of nationalists who threaten the Russian-speaking community. Ukraine and Western countries say Russia’s claims mask a war of aggression.
Thousands of people, including many civilians, have been killed and several million have fled their homes to seek refuge in safer parts of Ukraine or in other countries.
(Correction to 1st: Sievierodonetsk is the largest city held by Ukrainian forces in the Luhansk region)
(Reporting Natalia Zinets, Conor Humphries, Pavel Polityuk Kyiv, Vitaliy Hnidyi Kharkiv and Reuters reporters Popasna, David Ljunggren Ottawa, Phil Stewart Washington, Lidia Kelley Melbourne; French version Elizabeth Pineau)