- Russian forces pour resources into battle
- Sievierodonetsk city under assault
- Ukraine demands more weapons from the West
- The EU cannot agree to an oil embargo on Russia; more conversations on monday
KIEV / KHARKIV, Ukraine, May 29 (Reuters) – Russian forces intensify their attacks with heavy artillery bombardment to capture a key Ukrainian city in the southeastern Donbas region, the total capture of which Moscow’s top diplomat said it was now an “unconditional priority”.
The constant Russian bombing has destroyed all critical infrastructure in Sievierodonetsk, the largest city that Ukraine still controls in Luhansk, one of the Donbass regions, said Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy, while pledging to do everything possible to slow down progress.
“About 90% of the buildings are damaged. More than two-thirds of the city’s housing stock has been completely destroyed. There is no telecommunications,” he said in a televised speech.
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“Capturing Sievierodonetsk is a key task for the occupiers … We are doing our best to maintain this progress,” he added.
The “liberation” of the Donbas, an industrial region that includes Luhansk and Donetsk, is an “unconditional priority” for Russia, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said on Sunday. Read more
In a Facebook post, Ukrainian forces in the Donbas said they had been on the defensive all day Sunday. Russian forces fired on 46 communities in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, killing at least three civilians, injuring two more or destroying or damaging 62 civilian buildings.
Russian bombing also continued in several regions, including Novy Buh in Mykolaiv and Sumy. The city council of Novy Buh, in the Mykolaiv region of southern Ukraine, told its Telegram channel that an attack by Russian missiles had caused considerable damage to the city center.
The battle for Sievierodonetsk, located on the eastern bank of the Siverskyi Donets River, is in the spotlight as Russia gains slow but solid gains in the part of the country near the Russian border.
Failing to take the capital Kyiv in the first phase of the war, Russia is trying to consolidate its control over the Donbas, much of which is already controlled by Moscow-backed separatists.
It has concentrated a large firepower in a small area, in contrast to the earlier stages of the conflict, when its forces spread very little, whipping towns and cities with artillery and airstrikes.
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian government has urged the West to equip it with more powerful weapons to turn the tide of war, now in its fourth month. Zelenskiy expressed hope that weapons would be provided and that he expected “good news” in the coming days.
U.S. officials have said such weapons systems are being actively considered.
A member of the Ukrainian service mounts a military vehicle, in the middle of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, on the road from Bakhmut to Kostyantynivka, in the Donetsk region, Ukraine, May 29, 2022 REUTERS / Carlos Barria
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Analysts at the Washington Institute for War Study said the Russians had not yet managed to encircle Sievierodonetsk and that Ukrainian defenders had inflicted “fearsome casualties” on them.
Ukrainians were suffering heavy casualties, both civilians and combatants, an information document said.
Russia’s approach to Sievierodonetsk had drawn resources from other battlefields and, as a result, had made little progress elsewhere, analysts said.
A Reuters reporter in the area said that a pottery factory was almost completely destroyed on the outskirts of the Donetsk city of Bakhmut, which is on the last main entrance road to Sievierodonetsk and is only 10 km away. (6 miles) from the first line.
The journalist heard what appeared to be artillery fire coming out and Russian planes dropping a bomb near the city. Several transporters with Ukrainian soldiers could be seen in the area.
RUSSIAN OIL SEIZURE
Russia says its “special military operation” is aimed at ridding Ukraine of nationalists who threaten Russian-speakers. Ukraine and Western countries say Russia’s claims are a false pretext for a war of aggression, and the West has imposed a barrage of sanctions on Moscow while delivering arms shipments to help the Ukrainian government defend itself.
However, after nearly half a dozen punitive measures, some against oligarchs close to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the banks, unity within the European Union is being tested, as the bloc on Sunday failed to reach an agreement on an embargo on Russian oil. . Talks will continue on Monday. Read more
German Economy Minister Robert Habeck has expressed fears that EU unity is “starting to crumble”. Bloc leaders will meet Monday and Tuesday at a summit to discuss a new package of sanctions against Russia, including the oil embargo.
Meanwhile, Zelenskiy, who has won great admiration in the West for his leadership in the conflict, visited Ukrainian troops at the front in the northeastern Kharkiv region.
Several explosions were heard in the city of Kharkiv hours after Sunday’s visit, a Reuters reporter said, in what was Zelenskiy’s first trip out of the Kyiv region since the invasion began.
A large column of smoke could be seen rising northeast of the city center, which has been the target of Russian bombing in recent days after several weeks of relative calm. Read more
“You risk your lives for all of us and for our country,” the president’s office told soldiers as it handed out compliments and gifts.
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Report by Natalia Zinets, Conor Humphries, Pavel Polityuk and Bogdan Kochubey in Kyiv, David Ljunggren in Ottawa, Lidia Kelley in Melbourne; Written by Angus MacSwan and Humeyra Pamuk; Editing by Grant McCool and Stephen Coates
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