Kyiv, Ukraine (AP) – Ukrainian forces fighting Russian troops in a key eastern city appeared on Wednesday at the time of the withdrawal, although the regional governor insisted they were still fighting “by the inch” ” from the city.
The urban battle of Sievierodonetsk witnessed the minute-by-inch advance of Russian forces as they approached control of the entire Luhansk region, one of two that make up the industrial heart known as the Donbas.
After a failed attempt to invade Kyiv in the early days of the war, Russia focused on the region of coal mines and factories. The region has been partially controlled by separatists backed by Russia for years, making supply lines shorter and allowing Moscow to take advantage of separatist forces to support its offensive. But Russia also faces the toughest troops in the battle of Ukraine, which has been fighting separatists there for eight years.
The result is a slow pace with both sides exchanging artillery barrages that seemingly cause great losses and neither seems to have the clear momentum.
Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai acknowledged the difficulties in Sievierodonetsk on Wednesday and told The Associated Press that “we may have to withdraw, but right now the fighting continues in the city.”
Earlier, in the messaging application Telegram, he said that Ukrainian forces were fighting “for every inch of the city.”
He indicated that they could return to positions that are easier to defend. The city on the other side of the river, Lysychansk, is on a higher ground.
Sievierodonetsk became the administrative capital of the region after the city of Luhansk was taken by the separatists in 2014. Both it and Lysychansk are embedded between Russian forces in the east, north and south, and are among the few cities and towns of Luhansk that still resist. .
The Kremlin has claimed that its forces control almost the entire Luhansk region and about half of the Donetsk region surrounding the Donbas.
Meanwhile, in the north, Russian bombings in the northern region of Kharkiv have killed five people and injured 12 more in the past 24 hours, regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said on Wednesday.
The Russian military said on Wednesday that Moscow had used “high-precision missiles fired from the air” to hit an armor repair plant near Kharkiv. There was no confirmation from Ukrainian officials of the impact of such a plant.
At the diplomatic level, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov held talks with Turkish officials on Wednesday on a plan that could allow Ukraine to export its grain across the Black Sea to world markets amid escalation of global food crisis.
Ukraine is one of the world’s largest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil, but the war and the Russian blockade of its ports have halted much of this flow, endangering the supply of food to many countries. in development. Many of these ports are now also heavily exploited.
It is estimated that 22 million tons of grain are sitting in silos in Ukraine.
Turkey hopes to negotiate a safe corridor, possibly overseen by the UN, for the shipment of Ukrainian grain as well as Russian food and fertilizer.
Prior to Russia’s invasion of Russia on February 24, Ukrainian officials said Russia controlled about 7 percent of the country, including the Crimean peninsula, which was annexed by Russia in 2014, and separatist-occupied areas in Donetsk and Luhansk. . Last week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russian forces owned 20 percent of the country.
Although Russia has a higher firepower, Ukrainian defenders are entrenched and have demonstrated the ability to counterattack.
“The absolutely heroic defense of the Donbas continues,” Zelenskyy said late Tuesday in his nightly video address.
Speaking earlier at a Financial Times conference, Zelenskyy stressed Ukraine’s need to defeat Russia on the battlefield, but also said it was still open to peace talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
At a news conference after talks with Lavrov, Turkish Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu said his country was “much more optimistic” that Russia and Ukraine could be persuaded to return to talks. to the war. Talks between the two sides organized by Turkey before the conflict showed no progress.
But a former U.S. intelligence official said the timing was not right.
“You won’t get to the negotiating table until either side feels they have an advantage they could push,” said Andrea Kendall-Taylor of the Washington-based Center for New American Security.
The Russians “think they will be able to seize all of the Donbas and then use it as an opportunity to call negotiations,” Kendall-Taylor said at an online seminar hosted by Columbia and New York universities.
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Associated Press reporters Oleksandr Stashevskyi in Kyiv; Yuras Karmanau in Lviv; and Andrew Katell in New York contributed to this report.
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