The battle continues to rage in the Donbass. Ukraine claimed on Friday, June 3, to have pushed back Russian forces in Severodonetsk, a key city in the region, where Moscow is concentrating its offensive in the hope of taking full control. The Russian soldiers were even forced to retreat, according to the governor of the Lugansk region, Sergei Gaïdaï. “If before we had a difficult situation with around 70% (of the city) captured, currently they have been pushed back by 20%”, he described, despite a deluge of fire. Follow our live.
Ukraine asks for heavy weapons. Like the President of Ukraine, Governor of Luhansk region calls for heavy weapons to, he says, push the Russian artillery back away from the Ukrainian positions and avoid what happened in Mariupol. Russian forces are also heavily bombarding the Donetsk region, including Sloviansk, some 80 km west of Severodonetsk. Residents of the region lack gas, water and electricity, according to kyiv.
Russia denounces the new sanctions package. Lhe 27 EU countries have approved a sixth sanctions package against Moscow, including an embargo on oil purchases, which will be effective within six months. The text was published on Friday in the Official Journal and officially entered into force. “European consumers will be the first to suffer from this decision (…) I do not exclude that there is a large deficit of petroleum products in the EU”said Russian Deputy Prime Minister for Energy, Alexander Novak.
Putin plays down the grain crisis. The UN is worried about the risks of crisis, particularly in Africa, which imports more than half of its cereals from Ukraine and Russia. Worries brushed aside by Vladimir Putin. “There is no problem exporting cereals from Ukraine”he said in a television interview, discussing several ways to export them via Ukrainian ports, others under Russian control, or via Central and Eastern Europe.
Africa says it has Moscow’s ear. “We leave here very reassured and very happy with our exchanges”, said the current president of the African Union and Senegalese head of state, Macky Sall, after a meeting with Vladimir Putin in Sochi. He said he found the Russian president “committed and aware that the crisis and the sanctions create serious problems for weak economies, such as African economies”.