Russian forces intensified their offensive in Donbass on Friday, tightening the noose around a major town in this region of eastern Ukraine, while pro-Russian separatist forces claimed the capture of the key locality of Lyman .
In the evening, the Moscow branch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church cut ties with the Russian spiritual authorities, who support President Vladimir Putin – a historic initiative.
On the ground, the territorial defense of the self-proclaimed pro-Russian separatist “republic” of Donetsk (east) indicated on Telegram that it had “taken complete control” of Lyman, with “the support” of the Russian armed forces.
Neither the Russian army nor the Ukrainian army immediately commented on this information, which AFP could not verify from an independent source.
After their unsuccessful offensive on kyiv and Kharkiv (north-east) at the start of the war launched by Russia on February 24, Moscow’s forces are concentrating their forces in eastern Ukraine, with the stated objective of taking the full control of the Donbass mining basin, partially controlled since 2014 by pro-Russian separatists backed by Moscow.
The capture of Lyman would open the road to them towards the regional centers of Sloviansk, then Kramatorsk, while contributing to the encirclement of the agglomeration formed by the towns of Severodonetsk and Lyssytchansk, further to the east.
“So depressed that they are no longer afraid”
After several weeks of shelling Severodonetsk, this encirclement seems almost complete.
A police official from the pro-Russian separatist “republic” of Luhansk, quoted by the Ria Novosti agency, said on Friday that “the city of Severodonetsk is currently surrounded” and that Ukrainian troops are trapped there.
The head of the city’s Ukrainian administration, Oleksandr Striouk, acknowledged a “very difficult” situation, with “90% of residential buildings” damaged. “Nearly two-thirds of the city’s perimeter is occupied by the enemy, but it is not surrounded,” he said, quoted by regional governor Serguiï Gaïdaï.
The last real road to leave the agglomeration from Lysychansk has become a battlefield in recent days, AFP noted. To reach the rest of Ukraine or seek supplies, there is only one country road left on which military vehicles struggle.
“People are ready to take all the risks for water and food,” says Oleksandr Kozyr, manager of an aid distribution center in Lysychansk. “They are so depressed that they are no longer afraid. All they want is to find something to eat. »
At least five civilians were killed in 24 hours in the region, according to Mr. Gaïdaï: four in Severodonetsk and another in Komychouvakha, 50 kilometers away. Pro-Russian authorities in Luhansk reported two dead and eight wounded in a Ukrainian strike on the village of Svatov, according to Russian news agencies.
Orthodox Schism
On Friday evening, the Moscow branch of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church severed its ties with Russia because of the position of Moscow Patriarch Kirill, who supports Vladimir Putin.
At the end of a council, devoted to Russian “aggression”, was pronounced “the full independence and autonomy of the Ukrainian Orthodox Church”, according to a press release, which specified that the relations of the Church Ukraine with its Moscow leadership had been “complicated or non-existent” since the start of the conflict.
As for Kirill, “not only did he not condemn Russia’s military aggression, but he also did not find words for the suffering Ukrainian people”, a spokesman was indignant.
This initiative is the second Orthodox schism in Ukraine in a few years. Part of the Ukrainian Church, represented by the kyiv Patriarchate, had already broken with Moscow in 2019 because of the Kremlin’s interference in the country.
On his Telegram account, the spokesperson for the Russian Orthodox Church, Vladimir Legoida, indicated that “since the Russian Orthodox Church has not received an address from the Ukrainian Orthodox Church, we cannot react”.
Ukraine is central to the Russian Orthodox Church, some of the most important monasteries of which are located in this country.
“Genocide” in the Donbass
In his daily video message, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday evening accused Moscow of “genocide” in the Donbass, where Russian forces are carrying out “deportations” and “mass killings of civilians”.
In April, the Ukrainian Parliament had already adopted a resolution describing the Russian actions as “genocide”. The same month, the Canadian Prime Minister had said “that we can increasingly speak of genocide”, before the House of Commons condemned the “acts of genocide” by Russia. US President Joe Biden has also used this expression.
For its part, Moscow justified its invasion of Ukraine by a “genocide” that the Ukrainians would carry out against the Russian-speaking population of Donbass.
From The Hague (Netherlands), the prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, called on Russia to cooperate in the investigation, which he had opened four days after the Russian invasion, into the crimes of war and alleged crimes against humanity committed in Ukraine. Neither Russia nor Ukraine are members of the ICC, but Kyiv has accepted the Court’s jurisdiction.
” Whether [la Russie] conducts its own investigations or prosecutions or if it has relevant information, share it with us, ”he said, refusing to say whether Vladimir Putin could himself one day be a suspect.
Strikes on Dnipro
The war also continues in the rest of Ukraine. Russian missiles targeted Friday a military installation in the city of Dnipro (center-east), on the Dnieper river. “We deplore a dozen dead and between 30 and 35 wounded”, all soldiers, said Guennadi Korban, head of local defense.
In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city located 50 km from the Russian border, the airborne warning sirens sounded again at dawn on Friday. Bombing the day before had killed nine people and injured 19, all civilians, according to kyiv.
In the Southeast, in Mariupol, a large port devastated by bombs, the pro-Russian authorities, quoted by Ria Novosti, reported the discovery of 14 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers near the Metallourg stadium. “Research is continuing, there could be up to 40,” said a health official, Dmitri Kalashnikov, according to whom these soldiers died in “February-March”.
The Ukrainian authorities again demanded more weapons from the West on Friday: “Some partners avoid giving the necessary weapons for fear of escalation. Climbing, really? Russia is already using the heaviest non-nuclear weapons, burning people alive. Maybe it’s time […] to give us [lance-roquettes multiples] MLRS? tweeted Mykhaïlo Podoliak, adviser to the Ukrainian presidency.
No negotiated solution is in sight. Moscow on Thursday rejected an Italian peace plan.
Russia not responsible for food crisis, says Putin
While Ukraine, a major agricultural power, can no longer export its cereals due to the blocking of its ports, Vladimir Putin rejected on Friday any Russian responsibility for the world food crisis during a telephone interview with the Austrian Chancellor, Karl Nehammer , according to a statement from the Kremlin.
On Thursday, the Russian president had offered to help “overcome the food crisis” – on condition that Western sanctions against Moscow were first lifted, which earned him accusations of blackmail.
To help kyiv bypass the Russian blockade, Germany has notably set up a “railway bridge” with Ukraine, reserving trains for the transport of Ukrainian wheat to Western Europe, according to the next head of forces Americans in Europe, General Chris Cavoli.
In this context, President Zelensky should address Monday by videoconference to the leaders of the European Union gathered in Brussels. They are expected to re-address their plans for an embargo on Russian oil, still blocked by Hungary.
Russian Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said in a televised interview on Friday evening that Russia is expected to reap an additional 1 trillion rubles (C$20.83 billion) this year from its hydrocarbon exports, the prices of which are soaring. A part will be allocated to the continuation of the offensive in Ukraine, according to him.