The city of Sievierodonetsk (Ukraine) is in the throes of fierce fighting between the Russian and Ukrainian armies. Moscow said on Saturday June 4 that enemy units were withdrawing from the city, while the Ukrainian authorities recognize a situation “extremely difficult” throughout the region.
Here is what to remember from this new day of war.
Moscow says Ukrainian army units are withdrawing from Sievierodonetsk
The Russian army said on Saturday that Ukrainian military units were withdrawing from the key city of Severodonetsk, in eastern Ukraine, in the grip of furious fighting between kyiv and Kremlin troops. “Units of the Ukrainian army, having suffered critical losses in the fighting for Severodonetsk (up to 90% in several units), retreat to Lysychansk”a nearby major city, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
Earlier in the day, the governor of the Lugansk region, Sergei Gaïdaï, had admitted that “the situation in the whole region” was “extremely difficult”. “The fighting is currently concentrated in Sievierodonetsk because (…) the Russian army has thrown all its weight and reserves” in this battle, he added in an interview posted on his official social networks. “Initial information indicates that they have managed to take control of most of the city. But our forces are pushing them back now”he assured.
kyiv castigates Macron’s remarks calling for “not to humiliate Russia”
The head of Ukrainian diplomacy Dmytro Kouleba castigated, on Saturday June 4, the calls of French President Emmanuel Macron not to “humiliate” Russia. “Calls to avoid humiliating Russia can only humiliate France or any other country. Because it is Russia humiliating itself. We all better focus on how to put Russia in its place .It will bring peace and save lives.”Kouleba said in a tweet.
Calls to avoid humiliation of Russia can only humiliate France and every other country that would call for it. Because it is Russia that humiliates itself. We all better focus on how to put Russia in its place. This will bring peace and save lives.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) June 4, 2022
Four foreign volunteers killed, including a Frenchman
kyiv announced on Saturday the death of four foreign volunteers who went to fight Russian troops. A German, a Frenchman, an Australian and a Dutchman were killed according to the International Defense Legion of Ukraine, which did not specify where and when. Paris had confirmed on Friday the death of a Frenchman, who perished, according to the press, in the Kharkiv region (northeast). Australia had also confirmed in May the death of one of its nationals.
Putin plays down the risk of a food crisis
The UN is concerned about the risk of a food crisis, particularly in Africa, which imports more than half of its cereals from Ukraine and Russia. Their price on this continent has already exceeded the levels reached at the time of the Arab Spring crises in 2011 or the food riots in 2008. AU President-in-Office Macky Sall met on Friday with Vladimir Putin who assured that he there was not “no problem” to export grain blocked in Ukraine.