- Last bridge in Sievierodonetsk destroyed – governor
- Ukraine is looking for Western shells, tanks and drones
- Russia reports that it has destroyed some American and European weapons
KIEV, June 14 (Reuters) – Russian forces cut off last routes to evacuate citizens of the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk, a Ukrainian official said as the Kremlin pushed for victory in the Donbas region .
The last bridge in the city was destroyed, trapping the remaining civilians and making it impossible to deliver humanitarian supplies, said regional governor Sergei Gaidai, adding that 70% of the city was under Russian control.
Ukraine has made increasingly urgent calls for more Western heavy weapons to help defend Sievierodonetsk, which Kyiv says could be the key to the battle for the eastern Donbas region and the course of the war, which is now in its fourth. month.
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At the last minute on Monday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said the battle for the eastern Donbas would become one of the most brutal in European history. The region, which includes Luhansk and Donetsk provinces, is claimed by Russian separatists.
“For us, the price of this battle is very high. It’s just scary,” he said.
“We draw the attention of our partners on a daily basis to the fact that only a sufficient number of modern artillery for Ukraine will guarantee our advantage.”
Russia’s main goal is to protect Donetsk and Luhansk, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Monday after the leader of one of the separatist regions called for additional forces in Moscow. Read more
Ukraine needs 1,000 shells, 500 tanks and 1,000 drones among other heavy weapons, Presidential Adviser Mykhailo Podolyak said on Monday.
Moscow issued the latest in several recent reports saying it had destroyed US and European weapons and equipment.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said high-precision air missiles had struck near the train station in Udachne, northwest of Donetsk, hitting equipment that had been handed over to Ukrainian forces.
The Ukrainian Interior Ministry told Telegram that Udachne had been hit by a Russian attack overnight from Sunday to Monday, without mentioning whether the weapons had been attacked.
Moscow has criticized the United States and other nations for sending weapons to Ukraine and has threatened to attack new targets if the West supplies long-range missiles.
The European Commission will recommend granting Ukraine official status as an EU candidate, Politico reported on Monday afternoon, citing several unnamed officials.
Commission President Ursula von der Leyen said on Saturday that the EU executive’s opinion on Ukraine’s application for membership will be ready by the end of this week.
MARIUPOL BACK?
Russia’s RIA news agency quoted a pro-Moscow separatist spokesman, Edward Basurin, as saying that Ukrainian troops were effectively blocked in Sievierodonetsk and should surrender or die.
The situation risked becoming Mariupol, “with a large pocket of Ukrainian defenders away from the rest of the Ukrainian troops,” according to Damien Magrou, a spokesman for the International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine, which has had forces in Sievierodonetsk.
During the fall of Mariupol last month, hundreds of seriously wounded Ukrainian civilians and soldiers were trapped for weeks in Azovstal steel.
Russia has denied attacking civilians in what it calls a “special operation” to restore Russian security and “deactivate” its neighbor.
Ukraine and its Western allies call this an unfounded pretext for an invasion that has killed thousands of civilians and raised fears of a wider conflict in Europe.
More than 5 million people have fled and the world has been hit by a food and energy crisis, dividing Western nations on how to manage it. Read more
Unable to take the capital Kyiv after the February 24 invasion, Moscow has focused on expanding control of the Donbas, where pro-Russian separatists have had territory since 2014. Russia has also tried to capture more of the Black Sea coast. of Ukraine.
“The whole front is under constant bombardment,” Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko told Ukrainian television on Monday evening.
The cities of Maryinka, Krasnohorivka and Vuhledar were affected by the coal-producing belt and Avdiivka, home of a large coke plant, he said.
Gaidai said a six-year-old boy was among those killed in the latest Lysychansk bombing.
Officials in the Russian-backed separatist-backed Donetsk region said at least three people, including a child, were killed and 18 were injured in a Ukrainian bombing that hit a market in the city of Donetsk.
The Donetsk news agency showed images of flaming stalls in the central market of Maisky and several bodies on the ground. The news agency said on Monday that 155-caliber NATO standard artillery ammunition hit parts of the region.
Reuters was unable to verify the reports independently.
In Bakhmut, Donetsk, a resident who gave her name as Valya examined the remains of an apartment block that local authorities said had been hit by an airstrike.
“We went to bed, we’re old people, you know. And then all of a sudden … Scary, look what happened,” he said. “Nothing good is happening here.”
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Reuters office reports; Written by Costas Pitas; Edited by David Gregorio and Stephen Coates
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