Severodonetsk, on the verge of falling into the hands of Russia, which accuses the US. to “add fuel to the fire”

Severodonetsk, a key city in the eastern Donbas region, is about to fall before Russian troops, whose government on Wednesday accused the United States of “adding fuel to the fire” by increasing military aid to Kiev.

“The Russians control 70% of Severodonetsk”, assured Sergei Gaidai, governor of the Lugansk region. According to him, the city is “90% destroyed”.

The battles are released for the time being in the streets of this industrial city, recognized the spokesman of the Ukrainian Defense Ministry, Oleksander Motuzianyk.

The head of US diplomacy, Antony Blinken, said the war it could still last “several months” since Russia does not seem to want to end its aggression.

Severodonetsk is located in the Luhansk region, which together with Donetsk, forms the Donbas mining basin. After failing to take Kiev, the capital, Russia has focused its offensive on this part of Ukraine.

More help

Faced with the advance of Russian troops, US President Joe Biden confirmed this on Tuesday the increase in military aid to Kiev to be able to “attack key targets more accurately”.

A senior White House official specified that these are Himars systems, which, on light armored vehicles, can carry out multiple launches of very precise missiles. with a range of 80 km.

These teams are part of a new military assistance package to Ukraine of 700 million dollars.

After the announcement, the Kremlin accused the United States of “add fuel to the fire”. “These deliveries do not encourage the Ukrainian leadership to relaunch the peace negotiations,” reacted the spokesman for the Russian presidency, Dmitri Peskov.

But Blinken stressed that Ukraine has given him “guarantees” that it will not use the new missile systems to attack Russian territory. “It is Russia attacking Ukraine, not the other way around”She said.

For some specialists, Himars missiles it can alter the balance of forces on the ground, just as the Ukrainian army is retreating to Donbas. But others qualify this claim, since Ukrainian troops will need time to learn how to use them.

What I agree on is that it can improve soldiers’ morale. “If you know you have heavy guns, everyone applauds,” one fighter told AFP.

The Donetsk region is also targeted by Russian troops. West of Severodonetsk, in the city of Sloviansk, AFP reporters saw Destroyed buildings after an attack in which three people died and six others were injured.

At least one person was killed on Wednesday and two others were injured in Soledar, between Sloviank and Severodonetsk.

The South

And a little further south, the pro-Russian separatists claim to have done so cut one of the only two roads leading to Avdiivka, located near the city of Donetsk and still controlled by Kiev.

If Russia and the separatists succeed in taking this city, it would be a symbolic victory for the troops of Moscow and would facilitate the capture of Kramatorsk, a strategic city in Donbas still controlled by Kiev, which is about 100 km to the north.

One of the Russian negotiators on the conflict in Ukraine, Leonid Slutski, told the Ria Novosti news agency that the Ukrainian territories conquered militarily by Russia could hold referendum from July on a possible annexation.

To support Kiev, the European Union has also sent weapons to Ukraine and has adopted unprecedented economic sanctions against Moscow.

This week, European leaders agreed a partial embargo on Russian oil and the 27 also try to reduce their dependence on gas.

But the Kremlin assured that it was taking measures to “minimize” the impact of the embargo by “reorienting” the economy.

To try to circumvent the sanctions, even Russia asks for the payment of gas in rubles and stops offering to countries that refuse to do so. Moscow cut off supplies to Denmark on Wednesday. He also did this with the Netherlands, Finland, Poland and Bulgaria.

Russian giant Gazprom announced that its gas exports to countries outside the former Soviet bloc fell by 27.6% between January and May 2022.

Diplomatic maneuvers are also concentrated unlock Ukrainian ports in the Black Sea and allow the export of the stalled hundreds of tons of grain, fueling fears of a global food crisis.

“Please don’t use wheat, staple food, as a weapon of war!” Pope Francis asked during the traditional audience in St. Peter’s Square.

And after nearly a hundred days of war, many Ukrainians are hoping to escape their reality for 90 minutes with their team’s World Cup qualification and Scotland in Glasgow, where they won 3-1.

“I expect a win”Andriy Veres told AFP on the streets of Kyiv. “It is very important for the country, for the whole world, for those who are passionate about football, but also for those who are not.”

Source: AFP

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