Ukrainian authorities say they have recaptured the part of the industrial city of Sievierodonetsk where the Russian army is focusing their offensive to control Donbass and its armed forces could hold this captured area for two weeks. , as the battle continues.
Lugansk provincial governor Serhiy Haidai said on television on Friday that the Ukrainian army had recaptured 20% of the territory lost in Sievierodonetsk.
He feels he is not realistic to say the city will fall within the next two weeks even if Russia deploys reinforcements there.
Once we have enough long -range weapons from the Western nations, we will repel their artillery. [russe, NDLR] far from our seatssaid Serhiy Haidaï again.
Reuters did not immediately verify the governor’s statements about the Ukrainian advance, but verified that Ukrainians still hold part of the city.
According to the Ukrainian army, Russia strengthened its troops and used its artillery to conduct offensives in the city.
The army added that troops had to retreat after unsuccessfully trying to advance into the nearby town of Bakhmut and cut off access to Sievierodonetsk.
According to Serhiy Haidaï, four people were killed on Friday in Lugansk province during the Russian attack.
In the Odessa region of southern Ukraine, a missile hit an agricultural warehouse, injuring two people, local authorities told the Telegram messaging app.
On Saturday, Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Russia was conducting intense air operations in the Donbass.
Ukrainian intelligence in contact with prisoners of Azovstal
Ukrainian intelligence services are in contact with prisoners of war who defended the Azovstal metallurgical complex in Mariupol and kyiv is doing everything to ensure their release, the Ukrainian interior minister said.
Uncertainty has reigned over the fate of hundreds of Azovstal fighters detained by the Russians since mid-May after Ukrainian President Volodimir Zelensky asked them to lay down their weapons after nearly three months of siege.
It is through them [les services de renseignements, NDLR] that we know their conditions of confinement, their diet and the possibility of their releasesaid Denis Monastirsky on Friday night on Ukrainian television. We all know that they will all come here to kyiv, and we are doing everything we can to make it happen.added the Minister of the Interior.
Kyiv hopes to release the Azovstal fighters as part of the prisoner exchange. However, Russian parliamentarians want some of these soldiers to be brought to justice.
The Kremlin has ensured that fighters who surrender are treated in accordance with international law.
Source: Radio-Canada
