Ukraine on Thursday demanded “long-range” Western artillery weapons which it said would allow it to quickly retake Severodonetsk, a city in the east where, according to kyiv, “the fate” of Donbass, Moscow’s strategic priority, is at stake.
Ukrainian soldiers are fighting in Severodonetsk one of the “toughest battles” since the start of the war to resist Russian forces which now control much of the city, according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.
“We are defending our positions, inflicting heavy losses on the enemy. It’s a very hard battle, “said the Ukrainian head of state in a video released Wednesday evening, judging that “the fate” of the vast Donbass coal basin “is being played out” in Severodonetsk.
Seizing this city would be a decisive step for Moscow in order to conquer the entire Donbass, already partly held since 2014 by pro-Russian separatists, reinforced by Russian troops after the February 24 invasion.
Ukraine could, however, retake Severodonetsk “in 2, 3 days” as soon as it has “long-range” Western artillery weapons, Sergei Gaïdaï, governor of Lugansk, one of the two regions of Donbass, assured on Thursday. .
Faced with pressure from troops in Moscow, the Ukrainians are constantly asking their Western allies for more powerful weapons than those of lesser range at their disposal.
The delivery of multiple rocket launcher systems, with a range of some 80 km, slightly greater than the Russian systems, has been announced by Washington and London, but it is unclear when the Ukrainians will be able to start using them.
According to Governor Gaidai, “constant” Russian street fighting and shelling continued on Thursday in areas of Severodonetsk still under Ukrainian control.
The Russians are fighting there in a “very primitive” way, bombarding heavily with artillery, before sending their troops to try to breach the Ukrainian lines, he said, adding: “Our forces are repelling them, then the artillery fire resumes, and it goes on like that all the time”.
“No one to help me”
Last week, Severodonetsk seemed on the verge of falling to the Russian army, but Ukrainian troops fought back and managed to hold on, despite being outnumbered. However, Russian forces are regaining ground.
Some 800 civilians are trapped in the city’s Azot chemical plant, where they have taken refuge, according to the lawyer of a Ukrainian tycoon whose company owns the installation.
The Ukrainian authorities have not confirmed this information.
On Wednesday evening, Russian forces bombed Azot at least twice, notably hitting an ammonium production center, the Ukrainian presidency said on Thursday.
Lysychansk, a town neighboring Severodonetsk, is fully controlled by the Ukrainian army but is also under “heavy” shelling, Governor Gaidai said, accusing Russian forces of “deliberately” targeting hospitals and aid distribution centers humanitarian.
While many civilians evacuated Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, several thousand remained there — elderly people, people caring for them, or those who couldn’t afford to go elsewhere.
“Every day, there are bombardments, every day something burns”, testifies Yuri Krassnikov, seated in a district of Lysychansk with many damaged buildings and charred pavilions, while artillery rumbles not far from there.
“There is no one to help me,” laments this retiree who feels abandoned.
The Russians also continue to bombard Donetsk, the other Donbass region, “all along the front line”, according to kyiv, which has counted 4 dead and 11 injured in the past 24 hours.
In the city of Bakhmut, a school was completely destroyed by bombardment on Wednesday, with burnt books visible among the rubble, according to AFP journalists. No injuries or deaths were reported.
Moscow’s forces have made only slow progress so far, leading Western analysts to say that the Russian invasion launched on February 24 had turned into a war of attrition, with limited advances achieved at the cost of massive destruction and heavy losses.
“Wave of Hunger”
More than 100 days after the Russian offensive, the consequences of the war continue to worsen in the world, both in terms of finance and food and energy, affecting 1.6 billion people, alerted on Wednesday the Secretary General of the UN Antonio Guterres.
“For people around the world, war threatens to unleash an unprecedented wave of hunger and misery, leaving social and economic chaos in its wake,” Guterres warned.
“There is only one way to stop this brewing storm: the Russian invasion of Ukraine must stop.”
The blocking of Ukrainian ports by the Russian Black Sea Fleet – starting with that of Odessa, the country’s main port – paralyzes its grain exports, particularly wheat, of which it was before the war on the way to becoming the third largest exporter. global.
African and Middle Eastern countries are the first to be affected and fear serious food crises.
Some 20 to 25 million tonnes are currently blocked, quantities which could triple by “by the fall” to reach 75 million tonnes, according to the Ukrainian president.
While Moscow accuses the West of being the cause of this shortage because of their sanctions, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov met his Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu in Ankara on Wednesday to discuss “secure maritime corridors” that would allow to resume grain transport in the Black Sea.
Skyrocketing inflation
At the request of the UN, Turkey offered its assistance in escorting sea convoys from Ukrainian ports, despite the presence of mines.
At a press conference, Mr. Lavrov assured that Russia was “ready to guarantee the safety of ships leaving Ukrainian ports […] in cooperation with our Turkish colleagues”.
For Mr. Cavusoglu, Moscow’s request to lift the sanctions that indirectly affect its agricultural exports, to facilitate Ukrainian exports, is “legitimate”.
Rising prices are also hitting Russia hard, where inflation has skyrocketed to a twenty-year high. However, it began to decline in May, still reaching 17.1% over one year, according to official data.
The Institute of International Finance (IFF) forecasts a contraction of the Russian economy of 15% this year and an additional 3% in 2023.
The war has driven some 6.5 million Ukrainians to flee their country and caused thousands of deaths: at least 4,200 civilians, according to the latest UN figures, which estimate the real figures “considerably higher”, and thousands of soldiers, even if the belligerents rarely communicate about their losses.