The Russian army tightens its grip on the strategic city of Sievierodonetsk, Thursday, June 2. After the failure of its lightning offensive to bring down the kyiv regime, the forces are indeed concentrating on the conquest of Donbass. And Moscow’s steamroller tactic of slowly whittling away at the region seems to be paying off. In Severodonetsk, the administrative capital of the Luhansk region, now, “80% of the city is occupied” and street fights are raging, said the governor of the region, Serguiï Gaïdaï, on the night of Wednesday to Thursday. Follow the situation in our live.
Hundred Days of War. On Friday, Ukraine will enter its 100th day of a war that could last “many months”warns Washington. “It could end tomorrow, if Russia ends its aggression”but “we don’t see any signs in that direction at this stage”US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Wednesday at a press conference alongside UN Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg in Washington.
60 to 100 Ukrainians killed per day. Between 60 and 100 Ukrainian soldiers die every day in combat and some 500 others are injured, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky assured the American media Newsmax (in English) in an interview published Wednesday. “The situation in the East is really difficult”added Volodymyr Zelensky.
Falling Russian gas exports. Russian gas exports fell 27.6% between January and May 2022 compared to the same period in 2021, Russian giant Gazprom announced on Telegram on Wednesday. These figures do not take into account the countries of the Commonwealth of Independent States, which includes eleven countries of the former USSR. The group did not give any further explanation on the reasons for this drop. For its part, Moscow says it is taking steps to “minimize” the impact of the embargo on its oil decided by the European Union.