Ukrainian forces have managed to push back Russian troops in fierce fighting in Sievierodonetsk, despite Moscow “throwing all its power” to capture the key eastern city, Ukrainian officials said on Saturday. In an online interview, Luhansk Regional Governor Sergi Gaiday said that the Russian army has taken control of most of Sievierodonetsk, but that Ukrainian forces are still pushing them back.
According to the Russian army, however, some Ukrainian military units have been withdrawing from Sievierodonetsk. “Some units of the Ukrainian army, after suffering critical losses during the fight for Sievierodonetsk, are retreating to Lysychansk,” the twin city of Sievierodonetsk, located just across the river , said the Defense Ministry in a statement.
Russian President Vladimir Putin has said that Moscow’s anti-aircraft forces have shot down dozens of Ukrainian weapons and “are breaking them like new,” in an interview broadcast on Saturday. According to Reuters, the Russian news agency RIA, which first quoted the comments, quoted Putin as answering a question about US-supplied weapons, saying that Russia was easily confronted and that it had already destroyed the weapons. weapons by the dozens.
Kyiv has reprimanded French President Emmanuel Macron for saying it was important not to “humiliate Russia.” Ukraine’s foreign minister, Dmytro Kuleba, tweeted in response: “Calls to prevent the humiliation of Russia can only humiliate France and all other countries that demand it. Because it is Russia that is humiliating itself. It is better that we all focus on putting Russia in its place. That will bring peace and save lives. “
Western sanctions would have no effect on Russia’s oil exports, said Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Lavrov also predicted a significant increase in the benefits of energy shipments this year, the Russian news agency Tass reported.
The EU’s decision to extend sanctions on Russian billionaire Andrey Melnichenko to his wife is “irrational” because he has never had Russian citizenship or resided in Russia, a spokesman for the couple said. The EU sanctioned Melnichenko’s wife on Friday as part of a sixth round of sanctions against Russia for waging a war against Ukraine.
Ukraine’s defense minister Oleksiy Reznikov said that while it was impossible to predict when the war would end, “my optimistic prognosis is that it is realistic to achieve it as soon as this year,” he told Reuters. of Defense.
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 it made no sense in talks with Russia until Moscow forces were pushed back as far as possible to Ukraine’s borders.
According to Ukrainian Interior Minister Denys Monastyrskiy, Ukraine’s intelligence services are in contact with hundreds of captured Azovstal steel fighters and Kyiv is doing everything possible to secure them. the release. Ukraine wants fighters to be returned in a prisoner exchange. However, some Russian officials have said that the forces could be tried or executed.
The United States has expressed its support for international investigations into war crimes committed in Ukraine, the US embassy in Kyiv has announced. “Those responsible for war crimes, including the perpetrators and those who ordered them, must face justice,” the embassy tweeted on Saturday.
A famous monastery in eastern Ukraine, Svyatohirsk Lavra, caught fire after being hit by Russian bombing. The monastery is affiliated with the Moscow Patriarchate, which is headed by Patriarch Kirill, Putin’s ally. Four monks were reportedly killed as a result of the attack.
Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska and other officials commemorated 261 children killed in the Russian war against Ukraine by hanging bells near Hagia Sophia in Kyiv. The bells symbolize the voices of the murdered children, Euromaidan Press reported.