Kiev, Ukraine (AP) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky says no one knows how long the war will last in his country, but Ukrainian forces are living up to expectations and preventing Russian troops from crossing. Eastern Ukraine Where the fighting became most brutal in weeks.
In his nightly video speech, Zelensky said he was proud that Ukrainian defenders were able to prevent Russia’s advance in the Donbas region, which borders Russia and where Moscow-backed separatists control the majority. in the territory for eight years.
“Remember how Russia hoped to capture the whole of Donbass in early May?” This was announced by the president on Saturday. «It is the 108th day of the war, it is already June. The Donbass continues.
Unable to click after Kiev, the capital of UkraineAt the beginning of the war, Moscow focused on occupying the major Russian-speaking parts of the Donbas, which are still in Ukraine’s hands, as well as the country’s southern coast. But instead of gaining quick and decisive control, the Russian forces engaged in a long and difficult battle, also thanks to the use of weapons supplied by the Ukrainian army to the West.
Authorities in both Ukraine and Russia say Sivierododetsk, a pre-war eastern city with a population of 100,000, is still under discussion. The city and nearby Lisichansk are the last major districts of Donbass Lugansk province not under the control of pro-Russian rebels.
The leader of the Luhansk People’s Republic, declared by the separatists, Leonid Pasechnik, said Ukrainian fighters remained in the city’s industrial zone, including a chemical plant, where civilians were fleeing the bombing of Russia.
“Cievierodonetsk is not fully 100% liberated,” Pasechnik said on Saturday, adding that Ukrainians bombed the city from a nitrogen plant. “So it is impossible to call peace in Sivierododetsk, because it is entirely ours.”
Luhansk governor Serh Haidai said on Saturday that a large fire broke out during Russia’s bombing of the plant. North of the city, three people were killed in a Russian bombing of communities in the Kharkiv region, Governor Oleh Siniehubov said on Sunday.
Zelensky said that in other parts of Ukraine a counterattack forced the Russians to leave parts of the southern Kherson region they had captured at the start of the war. Moscow has deployed local authorities in Kherson and other occupied coastal areas, offers Russian passports to the population, broadcasts news in Russia and implements measures for the Russian school curriculum.
Zelensky said that until the end of the war is seen, Ukraine must do everything possible so that the Russians “repent of all they have done and answer every murder and every blow to our good state.”.
The Ukrainian leader said that Russia had suffered three times more military casualties than the Ukrainian side, and added: “Why? What did Russia bring to you?” There are no reliable independent estimates of the number of people killed in the war.
Speaking at the Singapore Defense Conference on Sunday, Chinese Defense Minister General Wei Feng said Beijing continues to support the peace talks between Russia and Ukraine and hopes that the United States and its NATO allies will work together. talks in Russia. to create conditions for early ceasefire.
“China will continue to play a constructive role and will help alleviate tensions and implement a political solution to the crisis,” Wei said.
He said countries supplying arms to Ukraine were hindering peace “by adding fuel to the fire” and stressed that China had not provided any material support to Russia during the war.
“The growth of Sino-Russian relations is a partnership, not an alliance,” Wei said.
Pope Francis invited the faithful to St. Peter’s Square to continue praying and fighting for peace in Ukraine as the war reaches its 109th day.
“The passage of time has not alleviated our pain and our concern for this battered population,” Francis Sunday said. “Don’t get used to this tragic fact. Keep it close to your heart. “
The Institute for War Studies, a think tank based in Washington, DC, said in a recent analysis suggested by Russian intelligence that the Russian military was planning a “long war”.
The institute quoted the deputy head of Ukraine’s National Security Agency as saying that Moscow had extended the war period until October and that adjustments should be made based on any victory in the Donbas.
“Intelligence” probably indicates that the Kremlin has, at the very least, recognized that it will not be able to quickly achieve its goals in Ukraine and is adjusting its military objectives to correct the initial shortcomings in the invasion of Ukraine ”, the analyst says.
The Ambassador of the Luhansk People’s Republic to Russia, Rodion Miroshnik, said on Saturday that between 300 and 400 Ukrainian soldiers remained under siege at the Sievierdonetsk chemical plant, along with several hundred civilians.
The Russians contacted Ukrainian troops to arrange for the evacuation of civilians, but the soldiers could only leave if they lay down their weapons and surrendered, Miroshnik said.
Similar conditions existed for several weeks at a steel mill in the southern city of Mariupol in Ukraine, before a civilian evacuation took place and Ukrainian military commanders ordered the defense troops to leave. The fighters of the Mariupol factory were captured by the Russians.
Pasechnik, the leader of the separatists in the unknown republic of Luhansk, said Ukrainians assigned to Sievierdonetsk should save themselves from the disaster.
“If I were them, I would have made the decision (to resign),” he said. “We can still reach the goal. However, we will release the industrial zone. However, we will release Sievierdonetsk. “Lisichansky will be ours in any case.”
David Rising contributed in Bangkok and Colin Barry in Milan.
Source: Huffpost
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.