Ukrainian authorities have assured that their troops have reclaimed their lands in the strategic eastern city of Severodonetsk, which has been partially besieged by Russian forces that have recently controlled it.
More than a hundred days after Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his troops to Ukraine, thousands of people died, millions left their homes, and many cities were burned to ashes.
The advance of the Russian army was slowed by fierce resistance from Ukraine, which prevented a lightning strike on Kiev to overthrow the pro-Western government and forced Moscow to focus on the Donbass mining basin.
The key is the battle for Severodonetsk, the largest Ukrainian-controlled city in the pro-Russian separatist Lugansk region, where Ukrainian troops resisted after losing nearly the entire city.
“They haven’t completely captured it,” Lugansk regional governor Sergii Gaidai said on Friday, noting that his troops had recaptured 20 percent of the land after losing 70 percent of the city to the Russians.
“As soon as we have more Western long-range weapons, we will withdraw their artillery… and the infantry will flee,” he said.
The situation is also difficult in Lysychansk, a city opposite Severodonetsk. According to the mayor Oleksandr Zaika, about 60% of the houses were destroyed and internet, cell phone and gas connections were cut off.
The press service of the Ukrainian presidency said that the Russians killed four civilians in the Luhansk region.
Ukraine also reported that a missile attack left two victims in the port of Odessa (southwest), without specifying whether they were injured.
In addition, he reported that four foreign volunteer fighters who fought with Russian forces were killed.
The Ukraine International Defense Legion, a brigade of volunteers, said four men from Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and France had died, but did not specify where or under what circumstances.
Zelensky promises victory
Despite unexpected resistance, Russian troops currently control one-fifth of Ukraine, and there is a long corridor connecting the Crimean peninsula (southern) with the territory of the Donbass along the Black Sea coast and the Sea of Azov.
However, coinciding with the first 100 days of the war, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky defied: “Victory will be ours,” he said on Friday.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitri Peskov assured that these more than three months of balance were satisfactory, as “specific” targets had been achieved.
According to Peskov, Russian troops “liberated countless cities” and allowed their inhabitants to return to “a life in peace.”
As the war progressed, Western countries increased the amount of weapons sent to Ukraine and sanctions against Russia to isolate Ukraine and suffocate its economy.
The European Union (sixth since the start of the conflict) agreed to an embargo on Russian oil purchases on Friday, with exceptions, in its latest package of measures, and included Putin’s supposed girlfriend, former gymnast Alina Kabaeva, on the sanctions list.
food crisis
The war raises fears of a global food shortage, with Russia and Ukraine being two of the world’s largest exporters of wheat.
The United Nations reported that secret negotiations were being held to unblock tons of grain stopping in Black Sea ports and stated that its coordinator was in Ukraine.
The UN warned of a “hurricane of hunger” in African countries, which import more than half of their wheat from these countries and where food prices are rising rapidly.
Just as the head of the African Union, Macky Sall from Senegal met with Putin in Sochi, in southern Russia.
According to Sall, the Russian leader is “aware and determined that the crisis and sanctions are creating serious problems for fragile economies”.
In a televised interview, Putin assured that exporting grain from Ukraine is “no problem”.
source: Noticias
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