(Kyiv) Russian bombardments in Ukraine are increasing in the region of Kharkiv (northeast) and Donestk (east), the Ukrainian presidency reported on Monday the day after a warning by President Volodymyr Zelensky on an intensification of Russian attacks on the threshold of this “truly historic week” with the planned discussions of the 27 on a Kyiv candidacy for the EU.
Posted at 6:14 a.m.
The European Union, through the voice of the head of its diplomacy Josep Borrell, accused Moscow on Monday of committing “a real war crime” by blocking Ukrainian grain exports “when the rest of the world’s population is suffering from hunger”.
For the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Catherine Colonna, “Russia must stop playing with hunger in the world”.
This Monday “opens a truly historic week” proclaimed Mr. Zelensky on Sunday evening in his daily video address, “we will have the European Union’s answer on Ukraine’s candidate status”.
“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 “.
After a positive recommendation from the European Commission on Friday, the EU countries meet on Thursday and Friday to decide on granting Ukraine the status of candidate for membership. A green light requires unanimity.
“Our army is holding up”
Until then, “obviously, we expect Russia to intensify its attacks this week,” warned the Ukrainian president.
“We are ready,” he added, while conceding that the Ukrainian forces had suffered “significant losses”. “Our army is holding up,” he assured, however.
In its morning update on Monday, the Ukrainian presidency indicated that the shelling was increasing in the Kharkiv region.
In the Donestk region, the intensity of the bombardments “is increasing all along the front line”, added the presidency, reporting one dead and seven wounded, including a child.
In Sievierodonetsk (east), “the Russians control most of the residential areas” but “if we talk about the whole city, more than a third of the city remains controlled by our armed forces”, declared the head of the local administration , Oleksandr Stryuk.
Fighting is raging around this key agglomeration to gain control over the whole of Donbass, partially controlled by pro-Russian separatists since 2014.
Serguiï Gaïdaï, the governor of the region of Luhansk which constitutes, with that of Donestk, the Donbass, confirmed on television the fall of the village of Metolkine, on the south-eastern outskirts of Severodonestk and of which the Russian Minister of Defense had announced Sunday the catch.
Return of coal
On the southern front where the Ukrainian army assures that the Russian forces “unable to advance on the ground” proceed by bombardments, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported on Monday morning a strike on an airport with cruise missiles .
This war could last “for years”, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Sunday in the German daily Bild, calling on Western countries to support Kyiv over time.
Facing the EU, Moscow holds the weapon of hydrocarbons. Countries like Germany are seeking to compensate for the declines in Russian gas deliveries, even if it means resorting to less ecological solutions.
“To reduce gas consumption, you need to use less gas to generate electricity. Instead, coal-fired power plants will have to be used more,” the German Economy Ministry said on Sunday, as Olaf Scholz’s coalition government promised to abandon this energy source by 2030. .
“It’s bitter, but it’s essential to reduce gas consumption,” said the Ecologist Minister of Economy and Climate Robert Habeck. “We shouldn’t have any illusions, we are in a showdown with Putin”.
Austria also announced on Sunday the reactivation of a coal-fired power plant closed in the spring of 2020 by a government wanting to eliminate this polluting source of energy and produce 100% electricity from renewable sources by 2030.
As for the Italian group ENI, also very dependent on deliveries from Moscow, it was chosen on Sunday by Qatar to join 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.