According to Kiev, Russia on Tuesday demanded control of all residential areas in Severodonetsk, a strategic city in the eastern Donbass, where Ukrainian troops are fighting larger Russian troops.
“The residential areas of Severodonetsk have been completely liberated,” Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said in a televised speech. Said.
He added that the Russian military is still trying to control the “industrial area and neighboring places”.
Having failed to capture Kiev, Russian forces focused their attacks on the Donbass, a mining basin in the east of the region that has been partially controlled since 2014 by pro-Moscow separatists.
“Our heroes are holding their positions in Severodonetsk. Intense street fighting continues,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday night. said.
The Ukrainian General Staff said in the first bulletin on Tuesday that this industrial city is “the heart of the enemy’s target”.
The death of the Russian general
Denys Pushilin, leader of the pro-Russian separatists in Donetsk, confirmed that another Russian general had died in the region.
In a message posted on Telegram, Pushilin sent “sincere condolences to the family and friends” of General Roman Kutuzov, “showing by his example how to serve the motherland.”
Ukrainian forces say they have killed large numbers of senior Russian soldiers since the start of the Moscow offensive on February 24. But the exact number is unknown, as Russia rarely reports military casualties.
The Russian Defense Minister also announced that the demining of the port of Mariupol, the conquest of which cost Moscow weeks of fierce fighting, has been ended. Shoigu said the port was “operating normally and receiving its first cargo ships”.
Mission in Zaporizhzhia
Russia has also occupied the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant since the beginning of the occupation. Kyiv criticized the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) for wanting to visit the plant, amid intense conflict.
A visit to the power plant will only be possible when Ukraine regains control of the site,” Energoatom, the company that operates Ukrainian nuclear power plants, said on Telegram.
IAEA director Rafael Grossi said on Twitter on Monday that the IAEA is preparing a delegation of experts to visit the Zaporizhzhia facility, the largest in Europe, because Ukraine “requested” it.
“The IAEA Director-General Rafael Grossi is lying again,” Energoatom said.
“We see this statement as a new attempt to gain access to the Zaporizhzhia facility to legitimize the presence of the invaders and confirm their actions,” the operator added.
On May 19, Russia threatened to cut off Ukraine’s connection to the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant if it did not pay Moscow for the electricity produced by Kiev.
In 2021, the plant accounted for 20% of Ukraine’s annual electricity production and almost half of all nuclear power produced in the country.
wheat blackmail
The invasion, ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, is raising fears of a global food shortage, with continued challenges in supply chains caused by Covid-19.
The two warring countries were producing 30% of world wheat exports before the war. But Zelensky warned that Russia’s blockade of Black Sea ports has brought up to 25 million tons of grain to a standstill.
In addition to the blockade, Ukrainian officials have condemned accusations that Russia is stealing grain reserves and selling them for their own interests, which US diplomacy finds “believable”.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken accused Putin of trying to “blackmail” Western powers to end sanctions against Moscow.
“A Russian naval blockade in the Black Sea is preventing the Ukrainian harvest from going to its normal destinations,” Blinken said. Said. “This is all deliberate.”
Kyiv announced that it is discussing the creation of sea corridors with Turkey and the United Kingdom, and smaller quantities of exports by land with Poland or the Baltic States.
Since the beginning of the conflict, thousands of civilians have died and millions have been forced to flee their homes.
At the UN Security Council, the United States and European countries demanded that Ukraine stop the alleged sexual violence by members of Russia’s armed forces, following accusations that Moscow called “lies”.
source: Noticias
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