Fierce battles have continued in eastern Ukraine with Russian troops about to encircle a key industrial city, provoking strong disapproval from western Volodymyr Zelenskiy for not doing enough to help Kyiv win the war. .
As the Ukrainian military reported on Thursday that 40 cities in the Donbas region were under Russian bombing, Luhansk Governor Sergi Gaiday described fighting outside Sievierodonetsk, a key military target for Russia, as “very difficult. “, saying that Russian troops were bombarding the city from the outskirts with mortars.
“Next week will be decisive,” Gaiday said in a video posted to the Telegram, adding that he believes Russia’s goal is to “capture the Luhansk region no matter the price.”
“There is a colossal amount of bombing,” he added.
After failing to seize the capital of Ukraine or its second city, Kharkiv, after invading in February, Russia is trying to take full control of the Donbass, which consists of two eastern provinces that Moscow is claiming on behalf of the separatists.
Russia has deployed thousands of troops to the region, attacking from three sides in an attempt to encircle Ukrainian forces resisting Sievierodonetsk and its twin, Lysychansk. Its fall would leave the entire Luhansk province under Russian control, a key target of the Kremlin war.
“The occupiers bombed more than 40 cities in the Donetsk and Luhansk region, destroying or damaging 47 civilian sites, including 38 houses and a school. As a result of the bombing, five civilians were killed and 12 were injured,” he said. say the joint working group of the Armed Forces of Ukraine on Facebook.
The statement said 10 enemy attacks were repelled, four tanks and four drones destroyed and 62 “enemy soldiers” were killed.
Gaiday said Lysychansk police were collecting the bodies of the murdered people to bury them in mass graves. About 150 people have been buried in a mass grave in Lysychansk district, he added.
Gaiday said the families of people buried in mass graves will be able to carry out a post-war burial, and police are issuing documents that allow Ukrainians to obtain death certificates from their loved ones.
Zelenskiy said in his nightly speech on Wednesday that Russian troops “far outnumber us” in some parts of the east and echoed the demands of his foreign minister Dmytro Kuleba at the World Economic Forum in Davos. to obtain more armament from the west.
“We need the help of our partners, especially weapons for Ukraine. Total aid, no exceptions, no limits, enough to win,” Zelenskiy said in his daily speech to the nation.
And he called on the international community to pay too much attention to the interests of Russia and too little to those of Ukraine.
The Ukrainian president criticized a recent New York Times editorial and other similar statements by influential Western figures suggesting that Ukraine may have to sacrifice some territory to end the conflict.
“We must do everything in our power for the world to develop a strong habit of considering Ukraine, so that the interests of the Ukrainians are not overwhelmed by the interests of those who rush to another meeting with the dictator,” he said. Zelenskiy. .
UK Secretary of State Liz Truss is expected to call for more military aid and sanctions on Thursday to help Ukraine during a trip to Bosnia and Herzegovina.
“Russia’s aggression cannot be stopped. It has to be dealt with forcefully, “Truss is expected to say, pointing to concessions made to Putin ahead of operations in Georgia, Crimea and Donbas.
Russia’s invasion of its pro-Western neighbor has caused global shock waves, with the latest fear of food shortages, especially in Africa.
Moscow blamed international sanctions imposed after the invasion, while the West says the shortage is mainly due to Russia’s blockade on Ukrainian ports.
“Resolving the food problem requires a comprehensive approach, including the elimination of sanctions imposed on Russian exports and financial transactions,” said Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrey Rudenko.
But Kuleba urged Davos delegates in Switzerland not to give in. “This is clear blackmail. No better example of blackmail could be found in international relations,” Kuleba told the WEF in Davos. Kuleba also criticized the Western military alliance NATO for “doing literally nothing” to stop Russia.
In other developments:
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As a sign that the rest of the country is still at risk, Russian cruise missiles have hit Zaporijzhia’s main southern railway hub, killing one person and damaging dozens of homes, the presidency added.
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President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday signed a decree simplifying the procedure for obtaining a Russian passport for residents of the Kherson regions of southern Ukraine, under full control of Russian troops, and Zaporizhzhia partially occupied. Kyiv said the plan was a “flagrant violation” of Ukraine’s sovereignty.
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The Russian parliament on Wednesday ruled out a maximum age limit for contract service in the military, stressing the need to replace lost troops. In a nightly video address, Zelenskiy, commenting on the new Russian enlistment rules, said: “(They) no longer have enough young men, but they still have the will to fight. It will still take time to crush that will.”