Moscow continued to cheat eastern Ukraine on Friday, a week shy of the 100th day of its invasion. For its part, kyiv continues to promise that the Donbass region “will be Ukrainian again” at the end of this dragging war.
“As expected, the situation in Donbass is very difficult. The occupiers are trying to achieve in at least 100 days of war the objectives they hoped to achieve in the first days after [l’invasion du] February 24,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his daily address to the nation, filmed overnight from Friday to Saturday.
Earlier in the day, the territorial defense of the self-proclaimed separatist republic of Donetsk, in the east of the country, indicated on Telegram that it had “taken complete control” of Lyman, with “the support” of forces from Moscow. Information that the Ukrainian army did not comment on Friday.
After having failed in recent weeks to take control of kyiv, the capital, and Kharkiv, the country’s second city, the Russian army has mobilized its forces towards the east of the country, where most of the fighting is now rage. “There are missile strikes and aircraft attacks,” Zelensky stressed in his video, while promising an increase in Ukrainian military resources to be deployed in the region.
Taking control of Lyman would allow the Russian army to extend its gains in the regional centers of Sloviansk, then Kramatorsk, while contributing to the encirclement of the agglomeration formed by the cities of Severodonetsk and Lyssytchansk, further to the l ‘is.
However, if the Russian military thinks that it can take control of these cities, “they are wrong”, launched Mr. Zelensky in a defiant tone, while assuring that the Donbass region “will be Ukrainian again” in the end of this war, which was Friday at its 93e day. This sector has been partially controlled since 2014 by pro-Russian separatists.
A police official from the self-proclaimed separatist republic of Luhansk, quoted by the Ria Novosti agency, for his part said on Friday that “the city of Severodonetsk is currently surrounded” and that Ukrainian troops are trapped there. Local authorities have also reported the death of several civilians in the space of 24 hours in this city heavily damaged by the war.
Elsewhere in the country, Russian missiles targeted a military installation in the city of Dnipro in east-central Ukraine on Friday. “We deplore a dozen dead and between 30 and 35 injured”, all soldiers, said Guennadi Korban, the local defense official. Some 14 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers were also discovered in the devastated port city of Mariupol, in the south of the country. “Research is continuing, there could be up to 40,” said a health official, Dmitri Kalashnikov, according to whom these soldiers died in “February-March”.
weapons and masks
On Friday, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak took to social media again to demand more weapons from the West. His request should soon be granted: American media, including the New York Timesindeed reported on Friday that the United States is preparing to announce next week the dispatch of long-range rocket launcher systems to Ukraine.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken also said on Friday that he had discussed with Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba “additional support” and “a global response to the food security crisis resulting from the brutal aggression of the Kremlin”. Currently, Ukraine, a major agricultural power, can no longer export its grain due to the blockade of its ports, but Russia continues to deny that it is responsible for the food crisis that is emerging on the planet.
Canada, for its part, said on Friday it had drawn on its own strategic stockpile of emergency medical supplies to support Ukraine, where several hospitals have been bombed in recent weeks. Ottawa has donated more than 375,000 items of medical equipment and medicine to Ukraine since the Russian invasion began. The lot includes masks, first aid and trauma kits, as well as surgical instruments, among others.
I spoke with Foreign Minister @DmytroKuleba today to discuss additional US support for Ukraine and a global response to the food security crisis resulting from the Kremlin’s brutal aggression. We remain #UnitedWithUkraine.
—Secretary Antony Blinken (@SecBlinken) May 27, 2022
With The Canadian Press and Agence France-Presse