The Ukrainian army said on Sunday that it repelled Russian attacks near Severodonetsk, in the east of the country, the scene of bloody fighting in a war that could last “years” according to NATO.
“Our army is holding up,” assured Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday evening, on the eve of a week that he sees as “historic” where the 27 countries of the European Union (EU) must say they grant Kyiv official EU candidate status.
In the east, “our units repelled the assault in the Tochkivka region,” the Ukrainian military said on Facebook. “The enemy has retreated and is regrouping. »
Fighting is raging in the Donbass region, made up of the provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk and partially controlled by pro-Russian separatists since 2014. They are particularly focused on the city of Severodonetsk.
The governor of Luhansk, Serguiï Gaïdaï, denied that the Russians had conquered all this very strategic locality, even if they “control the majority”, he admitted on Telegram.
The Russian Ministry of Defense reported on Sunday “success” in its offensive against Severodonetsk. “Units of the people’s militia of the People’s Republic of Luhansk, supported by the Russian armed forces, liberated the locality of Metolkine”, southeast of Severodonetsk, he said.
The Russian ministry also claimed to have hit a factory in Mykolaiv (south) with cruise missiles, and destroyed “ten 155 mm M777 howitzers and up to twenty armored vehicles supplied to the kyiv regime by the West during of the past ten days. Statements impossible to verify from an independent source.
Russian forces have focused their firepower on eastern and southern Ukraine in recent weeks since their failed attempt to take the capital kyiv after a February 24 lightning invasion.
“Fateful Decision”
As Ukraine shows its determination to fight to the end, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg has warned that Western countries must be ready to offer long-term support to kyiv during a bitter war.
The war could last “for years”, he said in an interview published on Sunday by the German daily Pictureurging Western countries to sustain their support for kyiv.
The European Commission on Friday recommended granting Ukraine EU candidate status. His opinion will be discussed next Thursday and Friday at a European summit, where the 27 EU leaders will have to give the green light, unanimously, for kyiv to officially obtain this status.
It’s a “truly historic week,” President Zelensky said in his Sunday evening statement. “Since 1991, there have been few decisions as fateful for Ukraine as the one we are awaiting today”, he added, saying he was “convinced that only a positive response is in the interest of all of Europe “.
“Obviously we expect Russia to step up its attacks this week,” he added.
But “we are preparing” and “we are ready”, he assured. According to him, the Russians are “regrouping their forces in the direction of Kharkiv (northeast) and in the Zaporizhia region (south), and are still bombarding our fuel infrastructure”. But “we will respond to these attacks,” he said.
“The losses are significant. Many houses have been destroyed, civilian logistics have been disrupted, there are many social problems,” conceded Mr. Zelensky, who visited the southern front on Saturday. He assured Sunday that his troops had maintained morale and “that no one doubts” the victory.
During this rare visit outside kyiv, where he barricaded himself at the start of the conflict when the capital was threatened by the Russian army, Mr. Zelensky traveled to the city of Mykolaiv near the Black Sea, visiting troops stationed nearby and in the neighboring region of Odessa. “We won’t give the South to anyone, we’ll take everything back, and the sea will be Ukrainian, it will be safe,” he said in a video posted on Telegram as he returned to Kyiv.
” Strong test “
“We will definitely rebuild everything that was destroyed. Russia does not have as many missiles as our people want to live,” he added.
Mr Zelensky thanked the soldiers, who are containing the surge of Russian troops, supported in the east from annexed Crimea, for their “heroic service”. A video, released by the presidency, showed him in Mykolaiv with the local governor, Vitaliy Kim, in front of the gaping facade of the headquarters of the regional administration, hit by a Russian strike in March which left 37 dead.
This port and industrial city of almost half a million inhabitants before the war is still under Ukrainian control, but it is close to the Kherson region, almost entirely occupied by the Russians.
It remains a target of Moscow, as it is on the road to Odessa, Ukraine’s largest port, 130 km to the southwest near Moldova, also still under Ukrainian control and at the center of discussions. on the blocked export of millions of tons of Ukrainian grain.
Russia, which controls this area of the Black Sea despite the firing of Ukrainian missiles against its ships, explains that the waters are mined.
Finally, on the gas front, the flow of which Russia massively reduced this week to Western Europe, Germany, the first target, announced on Sunday that it was taking measures to return to more coal, a polluting energy that it planned to drop out by 2030.
“It’s bitter, but [le recours au charbon] is essential to reduce gas consumption,” said the Green Minister for the Economy and Climate, Robert Habeck. “There should be no illusions, we are in a showdown with Putin,” he added.
As for the Italian group ENI, also very dependent on deliveries from Moscow, Qatar announced on Sunday that it is joining the French TotalEnergies in the North Field East (NFE) project, which aims to increase the production of liquefied natural gas by 60% ( LNG) of the Gulf countries by 2027.