A Ukrainian soldier reports by radio during heavy fighting on the front in Severodonetsk, Luhansk region, Ukraine, on June 8. (Oleksandr Ratushniak / AP)
LONDON – A military official in the Russian-backed Donetsk separatist region issued a stern warning to remaining Ukrainian fighters in the besieged city of Severodonetsk: “Surrender or die.”
Eduard Basurin, the deputy leader of the Donetsk People’s Republic, or People’s Militia, told reporters on Monday that the remaining soldiers were trapped after the last bridge entering the city was destroyed.
“Severodonetsk is really blocked after the last bridge connecting it to Lysychansk was blown up yesterday,” Basurin told the Associated Press. “Therefore, the Ukrainian military units stationed there remain there forever.” He added: “They have two options: either follow the example of their peers and surrender, or die. They have no choice.”
Smoke rises from the city of Severodonetsk in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas on June 13. (Aris Messinis / AFP via Getty Images)
On Tuesday, Kyiv said its forces were still resisting in Severodonetsk and that soldiers were trying to evacuate civilians hiding in the city. Authorities say more than 500 people are trapped inside Azot, a chemical plant in the city.
The head of Russia’s National Defense Management Center gave soldiers seeking refuge at the chemical plant a chance to surrender until Wednesday morning. According to Interfax, an independent Russian media outlet, the colonel-general. Mikhail Mizintsev said Ukrainian soldiers should “stop their senseless resistance and lay down their arms.” Any civilian could go out on a “humanitarian corridor,” he added.
According to Reuters, Oleksandr Stryuk, the mayor of Severodonetsk, said there was still “communication with the city”, although bridges to the city had been destroyed. “Russian troops are trying to storm the city, but the army remains firm,” he said.
The Ukrainian military mounts 155 mm M109 self-propelled and self-propelled American shells in the Donetsk region on June 13. (Gleb Garanich / Reuters)
Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky called on Western countries to send more long-range weapons so that the Ukrainian army could help defend Severodonetsk. Speaking to Danish journalists, Zelensky said: “We have enough weapons. What we don’t have enough are the weapons that are really reaching the scope we need to reduce the advantage of the Russian Federation team.” Ukraine has ordered 1,000 drones, 500 tanks and 1,000 long-range shells, including heavy weapons.
The story goes on
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