Please enable JS and disable any ad blocker SupportEN Майя ОрелЖурналістка Sievierodonetsk was just the neighboring buildings that Kyrylo saw through the window of his parents' apartment as a toddler the young man discovered new corners of his hometown: a courtyard with soccer goals painted on the wall of a transformer box; his grandparents' home on a quiet pedestrian street — those low-rise buildings were constructed by German prisoners of war after World War II and Kyrylo loved their terraces and poplar shade; the "Mosaic" cafe with its marble floor where ice cream of unforgettable taste was served in elegant bowls; the Ice Palace where New Year's trees were set up; the Azot chemical plant where he completed his internship as a technical school student; his family's store when its outskirts ran into the line of defense That's when Kyrylo became its defender "There was nothing romantic about fighting in Sievierodonetsk I didn't care about defending my hometown specifically I defended Stanytsia Luhanska in the same way in 2015 But it was horrifying to see Grads tearing apart Sievierodonetsk I later perceived the shelling of Bakhmut much more calmly a shell would land in a place where I used to go before the war There's a difference in feelings," Kyrylo says Sievierodonetsk was captured by the Russians a settlement with the Soviet-style name Lyskhimbud was established on the bank of the Siverskyi Donets River a school and a kindergarten huddled around structures that would later become a chemical plant 10 buildings of the newly constructed enterprise were dismantled and taken beyond the Urals and the war scattered the residents of the settlement after the territory was liberated from the Germans the Soviet authorities decided to rebuild the chemical plant and thus revive Lyskhimbud the village was granted the status of an urban-type settlement and renamed Sievierodonetsk the chemical plant produced its first output it had become such a powerful enterprise that the urban-type settlement where its workers lived officially became a city the chemical plant was one of the largest producers of ammonia and other chemical products in Europe — known worldwide as the Azot Association "Every family in our city was connected to the chemical plant in one way or another and my grandmother was a research associate at the Institute of Nitrogen Industry My grandfather and I would go to the Khimik stadium The same name was given to the hockey team The largest cultural center in the city was also called Khimik Mosaics that adorned the city's buildings often had chemical themes Schoolchildren in Sievierodonetsk were obligatorily taken to the Azot museum — I remember being impressed by a huge pile of salt in one of the halls many enrolled in our chemical-mechanical technical school because the city lived thanks to the chemical industry I also graduated from it," Kyrylo says the Russians targeted the Azot plant — its workshops and warehouses with chemical substances hundreds of Sievierodonetsk residents sought refuge in the plant's bomb shelters.. Kyrylo spent most of his time with his paternal grandparents His grandfather was a Ukrainian from a village in Luhansk Oblast and his grandmother was a Russian from Volgograd read Taras Shevchenko and Ivan Kotliarevsky She said that since she now lived in independent Ukraine "I was born in 1991 and studied in a Ukrainian school; there were many of them in Sievierodonetsk I heard Ukrainian from some boy and was very surprised But thanks to my grandfather and grandmother all my friends and close circle were pro-Ukrainian," Kyrylo says Sievierodonetsk was in silent opposition to its status as a Ukrainian city becoming a breeding ground for the now-banned Party of Regions the so-called All-Ukrainian Congress of MPs and local councilors was held in the Ice Palace of Sievierodonetsk — supporters of Viktor Yanukovych from 17 regions of Ukraine spoke out against the Orange Revolution the Luhansk Oblast Council declared disobedience to the central authorities and appealed for support to Russian President Vladimir Putin the congress decided to hold a referendum on December 12 in the Donetsk and Luhansk oblasts regarding the granting of autonomy to these regions within a federal Ukraine but I remember that in our class there were two of us whose families supported the Orange Revolution," Kyrylo recalls the Prosecutor General's Office and the Security Service of Ukraine initiated criminal cases against the organizers of the congress in Sievierodonetsk Russian flags flew over the building of the regional administration of the Security Service of Ukraine in Luhansk Those 10 years in Kyrylo's life were very eventful: he graduated from school and technical school was accepted into the Luhansk National Agrarian University as a promising athlete and began helping his mother in the family business after its near-death experience in the 1990s and foreign investors came to the enterprise a large workshop where his grandfather once worked was replaced by a single high-tech apparatus Sievierodonetsk took second place in Luhansk Oblast in the development of small businesses The names of new restaurants sparked the imagination — "Deja Vu," "Chalet." A nightclub a new cinema and even a bowling alley appeared The year 2004 seemed to have faded into oblivion "Few people in the city spoke openly about the seizure of Crimea by the Russians I was playing hockey at the time — in our amateur team there were men of different ages and professions the atmosphere was such that people who supported Ukraine found themselves in the minority Saying that you were for Ukraine was somehow uncomfortable the Russian aggression was initially perceived as nonsense that would soon pass," Kyrylo shares Kyrylo — a soldier who fought in his native Sievierodonetskprovided to hromadskeOn March 1 a "Russian spring" rally was held in Sievierodonetsk Crowds under Russian tricolors chanted "Russia!" and speakers called for "unity with Moscow." In early April participants of a pro-Ukrainian flash mob were beaten by "titushky" — hired thugs — brought into the city; the police did not intervene They also did not prevent the "titushky" from holding a pro-Russian rally the same day called for the non-recognition of the Kyiv authorities "titushky" and pro-Russian militants seized the city's prosecutor's office and demanded the disconnection of Ukrainian TV channels the red Soviet flag was raised over the city council Sievierodonetsk held an illegal referendum on the recognition of the so-called "LPR" authority "I also received an invitation to the referendum; I crumpled that piece of paper and threw it away I tried to leave home as little as possible — I would deliver goods to the store from the warehouse and that was it I went to the lake for a walk; there was a shooting range under the flag of the 'LPR,' some armed 'militiamen' were drinking with a woman 'Shoot him!' We barely escaped from them The situation in Sievierodonetsk was strange: a curfew but you could freely leave the city to Kharkiv My mother and I didn't think about going anywhere — we hoped that all this would end soon," Kyrylo says Ukrainian troops liberated Sievierodonetsk on July 22 Heavy armor was involved in the storming of the city not a single customer came to Kyrylo and his mother's grocery store "I woke up to the house shaking from shelling I saw our plane flying very low — I could make out the trident on it a neighbor said that the city was already under Ukrainian control We went with him to see what was happening on the streets and groats from our store to the guys in my van And then everything returned to normal very quickly and Sievierodonetsk became a Ukrainian city again." Sievierodonetsk became the administrative center of that part of Luhansk Oblast that remained under the control of the Ukrainian government Many regional institutions moved to the city — even the philharmonic with a symphony orchestra and a theater But Kyrylo saw this new Sievierodonetsk only in photos or during vacations: in January 2015 he became a fighter in the "Luhansk-1" volunteer battalion and participated in combat special operations he served as a police officer in Zaporizhzhia he became a police officer in Sievierodonetsk a friend from France called me and said he wanted to come fishing I was called to work on alert — to the Main Directorate of the National Police of Luhansk Oblast They issued us weapons — I had an assault rifle and a pistol — and ordered us not to leave the base territory one of our colleagues woke us up and said that the Russians had shelled many Ukrainian cities," Kyrylo says about the start of the full-scale war in Sievierodonetsk the police were told to focus on defending the main directorate and .. The police dug trenches in the flower beds in front of the directorate and prepared the institution for evacuation to Dnipro Then he and several dozen police officers who had combat experience during the ATO were sent to defend Sievierodonetsk "My friends and I were assigned to the 79th Brigade We dug trenches on the outskirts of the city a few grenade launchers and a machine gun that jammed We asked the commanders what to do if a tank advanced on us but first notify us,'" Kyrylo says He remembers how in those first days of the full-scale war the bells in the Sievierodonetsk churches rang frantically Those were the churches of the Moscow Patriarchate — there was only one Ukrainian church in the city The Russians intensively shelled the city — in the basement of Kyrylo's home many relatives and acquaintances gathered; it seemed that the entire Sievierodonetsk had hidden in the basements ...The Russians advanced from the eastern side They rained down rockets and shells like peas Kyrylo kept an eye on where they were aiming: when he determined that a shell might hit his mother's place And he asked the guys who were going to the city to visit her.. I first entered Sievierodonetsk around March 12 It was the area of the stadium and the park not a single store was operating in the city Only the hospital and the military-civilian administration were still functioning although it was slightly damaged by shrapnel we organized a warehouse for humanitarian aid Many humanitarian aid distribution points appeared in the city at that time I remember how people came out of the basements to my car and asked what I had brought.. The Russians tried to hit these very points," Kyrylo bitterly notes Because of the humanitarian aid warehouse in the house Kyrylo's mother did not want to leave the city She decided to do so at the end of April when the Russians had already occupied almost half of Sievierodonetsk and roads were blocked by anti-tank barriers Kyrylo mapped out a route through the city for his relatives with the help of guys who distributed humanitarian aid until the last moment and knew the safe road he saw the completely destroyed city center: my favorite Ice Palace — I used to go there for training Only a few walls remained of it — it's amazing that the mosaic on them survived And the avenue that connected my stadium with the Ice Palace was destroyed Along it were all the cafes and cultural centers sports schools; it was my favorite route in the city — only ruins remained Combat positions were already among the buildings I remember that people were sunbathing near the buildings — and a Grad shelling began His mother drove her car behind her son's vehicle — that's how they drove through Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk and exited onto the Dnipro highway "There was a roadblock there; I stopped Only in Dnipro.' I watched as my mother's car drove away — she even took the dog with her.. I already understood that this was the end It was very sad," Kyrylo says; we are talking on the phone and I hear him nervously lighting a cigarette.. In Sievierodonetsk at the end of April 2022 He then delivered medicines to the hospital — he saw an empty combat position near the building The fighters were hiding in the hospital basement because there had just been a heavy shelling Kyrylo met a soldier who was scared out of his wits doctors calmly went about their business — without body armor and they communicated with each other using radios they rushed to some ward where there were wounded.. "The last time I was in Sievierodonetsk was at the end of May 2022 I had already been transferred to Lysychansk And one of my fellow soldiers asked me to pick up things from his house in some areas of the city there were already close combat engagements with small arms and you were foolishly risking your life for some stuff Although I did take that baby stroller that I was asked to get in which my grandfather's brother recorded the memories of fellow villagers about our family I really regret that notebook — I wonder if I'll find it after the war," Kyrylo says Vehicles made their way through these ruins out of almost 130,000 residents of Sievierodonetsk "I would like to live in Sievierodonetsk after the war where I liked to tinker with some equipment Toretsk — if the price of such battles is the liberation of Sievierodonetsk then nothing will remain in the city that I loved so much Unless the Russians leave the city as a result of some political decision Otherwise — where to return?" says Lieutenant of the Liut (‘Rage’) Brigade Kyrylo Tytarenko If after the Second World War it was possible to revive the chemical plant on the Siverskyi Donets River and repopulate the area then maybe it will be possible after this war This piece is part of the "Destroyed but Unconquered" project in which we tell the stories of cities completely destroyed and occupied by Russia during the full-scale invasion According to Ukrinform, this was reported by the head of the Luhansk regional military administration, Artem Lysohor, in a Telegram message “In Sieverskodonetsk, there is no schedule and scheme for connecting high-rise buildings to the heating network. They have not tested the boiler house that the Russians built last winter. Therefore, they claim its capacity based solely on the calculations of the designers,” the head of Luhansk region wrote He noted that currently the invaders cannot even say approximately how many houses they will be able to supply heat to and what temperature it will be residents of the so-called “LPR” must pay a state fee to Russia to register their property rights to real estate While citing and using any materials on the Internet links to the website ukrinform.net not lower than the first paragraph are mandatory citing the translated materials of foreign media outlets is possible only if there is a link to the website ukrinform.net and the website of a foreign media outlet Materials marked as "Advertisement" or with a disclaimer reading "The material has been posted in accordance with Part 3 of Article 9 of the Law of Ukraine "On Advertising" No 1996 and the Law of Ukraine "On the Media" No 2023 and on the basis of an agreement/invoice Online media entity; Media identifier - R40-01421 scorched earth and trees shredded by shrapnel form the landscape on the road leading to Sievierodonetsk over a year after the city was captured by the Russian army.  sits alone in the courtyard of a residential building on the town’s outskirts destroyed by shelling.  His apartment on the eighth floor is no longer habitable and could collapse at any moment.  it was terrifying,” Oleg says.  He is now living in temporary accommodation on the ground floor with no running water or heating the carcass of a Ukrainian tank lies in a passageway between two buildings When Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine Sievierodonetsk and neighboring Lysychansk made up the main stronghold of Kyiv's forces in the Luhansk region which is now almost entirely under Russian control The city fell at the end of June last year after months of bombardment followed by weeks of bloody street-to-street combat While most of the local population fled during Russia’s siege thousands stayed in underground shelters without heating "We thought it would be over soon," remembers Oleg who spent three months in a church basement.  over 1,000 civilians died and around 80% of buildings were partially or completely destroyed during the battle.  the marks of war are visible everywhere in this once-thriving industrial city Signs reading “No mines here” and “People live here” are painted on dilapidated facades throughout the city center.  “It used to be a very beautiful city,” recalls Andrei who sells electronic cigarettes in a local shop and lost a leg during the siege Andrei’s family fled Ukraine and found refuge in Germany “I don’t think they will ever return,” he says.  The semi-deserted city streets are now filled with Russian propaganda: a photo installation showing Russia’s latest achievements in technology and culture can be seen on the city’s main square forming a stark contrast with the surrounding desolation Not far from there stands a campaign billboard for United Russia, the winning party in September's local elections the first to be held since Moscow claimed to have annexed the Luhansk region a year ago.  were held despite the absence of the vast majority of residents 32,000 people currently live here compared to the city's pre-war population of 100,000.  The people living here now have the right to build their future,” explains Nikolai Morgunov the Russia-installed mayor of Sievierodonetsk.  Morgunov took the side of pro-Russian rebels during the 2014 armed uprising in eastern Ukraine and served as mayor in the separatist-held town of Brianka.  He was appointed to head Sievierodonetsk last year he found anti-tank mines planted in the mayor's office by the previous administration.  prevent me from restoring peaceful life in the city,” says Morgunov and sandbags are piled up at the city hall's entrance.  Russia-sponsored reconstruction efforts have made modest progress: running water and electricity have been partially restored but the majority of the buildings are still damaged or in ruins.  complicates everything: long-range HIMARS rocket launchers and Storm Shadow missiles still pose a threat to the Russia-held city.  local authorities cut off the mobile connection Residents must travel to nearby towns to get in touch with the outside world.  Though it was the Russian army that attacked the city Morgunov blames Kyiv’s forces for the devastation.  “Who is responsible for this?: 100% the people who tried to transform a peaceful city into a human shield and hide behind its residents,” he says.  life is slowly returning to Sievierodonetsk and small businesses resumed working.  “We waited for Russia for a long time,” says Svetlana a deli vendor at the city's central market.  she was dissatisfied with the government in Kyiv for policies that they felt discriminated against the local Russian-speaking population and imposed the use of the Ukrainian language in public places.  “They were treating us like second-class citizens,” says Svetlana who voted in favor of what Russia calls the “reunification” with the Luhansk region last fall another vendor who welcomed the arrival of Russian troops She fled to Russia-controlled territory during the fighting and recently received Russian citizenship.  Residents who left for the West tend to have a more critical view of Russia.  fled the city with her entire family when the war started While her parents’ apartment is still intact “I don’t want to live in Russia as a matter of principle,” she said The fury of war largely spared the Orthodox sanctuary of Krestovozdvizhensky located in a pine forest on the outskirts of Sievierdodonetsk: a corner of beauty amid the ruins.  is collecting donations to repair the damage inflicted on the bell tower.  God will give us everything,” says Liubov who lost her apartment in the siege and now lives in the sanctuary.  hundreds of wooden crosses have been planted They are the graves of civilians killed during the city's siege and buried in an improvised cemetery The silence is only broken by the distant artillery fire.  Russia's Prosecutor General's Office has designated The Moscow Times as an "undesirable" organization criminalizing our work and putting our staff at risk of prosecution This follows our earlier unjust labeling as a "foreign agent." These actions are direct attempts to silence independent journalism in Russia The authorities claim our work "discredits the decisions of the Russian leadership." We see things differently: we strive to provide accurate We, the journalists of The Moscow Times, refuse to be silenced. But to continue our work, we need your help please support us monthly starting from just $2 and every contribution makes a significant impact independent journalism in the face of repression Ukraine (AP) — Ukrainian forces battling Russian troops in a key eastern city appeared on the cusp of retreat Wednesday though the regional governor insisted they are still fighting “for every centimeter” of the city The urban battle for Sievierodonetsk testified to the painstaking inch-by-inch advance by Russian forces as they close in on control of the entire Luhansk region one of two that make up the industrial heartland known as the Donbas WATCH: Russia advances in Sievierodonetsk as Ukraine tries to reinforce beleaguered troops After a bungled attempt to overrun Kyiv in the early days of the war, Russia shifted its focus to the region of coal mines and factories. The Donbas has been partly controlled by Russia-backed separatists since 2014 making supply lines shorter and allowing Moscow to tap those separatist forces in its offensive there But Russia also faces Ukraine’s most battle-hardened troops who have been fighting the separatists for eight years there The result is a slog in which both sides exchange artillery barrages that seemingly inflict heavy losses but neither appears to have the clear momentum “Ukraine has been pursuing a policy of flexible defense giving ground where it makes sense to do so instead of holding on to every inch of the territory,” said Keir Giles a Russia expert at London think tank Chatham House But he cautioned against drawing grand conclusions from the daily give and take since Russian President Vladimir Putin could decide at any time that his objectives have been met — and the West could also pressure Ukraine to accept their losses The grinding war has left thousands dead and driven millions from their homes — and its consequences are felt in many countries where it is driving up the price of food since critical shipments of Ukrainian grain are trapped inside the country After meeting with Russia’s foreign minister Wednesday Turkey’s top diplomat said he thought a plan to create a secure shipping corridor to resume exports of that grain was “feasible.” Serhiy Haidai acknowledged the difficulties in Sievierodonetsk on Wednesday telling The Associated Press that “maybe we will have to retreat but right now battles are ongoing in the city.” “Everything the Russian army has — artillery they’re using in Sievierodonetsk in order to wipe the city off the face of the Earth and capture it completely,” he said he said Ukrainian forces were still fighting “for every centimeter of the city.” WATCH: In Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, Russian forces are taking control one town at a time Haidai indicated they could pull back to positions that are easier to defend He has previously suggested forces could have to pull back in order to avoid being surrounded became the administrative capital of the region after the city of Luhansk was taken by separatists in 2014 Both it and Lysychansk are wedged between Russian forces to the east north and south — in the small portion of the Luhansk region that Russia has not yet claimed control of Moscow also appears to hold about half of the Donetsk region that rounds out the Donbas described the moment when her house came under attack The shrapnel hit the wall and went through my shoulder,” she said as she received treatment for her wounds this week Russian shelling of the northern Kharkiv region killed five people and wounded 12 more over the past 24 hours regional governor Oleh Syniehubov said Wednesday The Russian military said Wednesday that Moscow used “air-launched high-precision missiles” to hit an armor repair plant near Kharkiv There was no confirmation from Ukrainian officials of such a plant being hit Ukrainian officials said Russia controlled some 7 percent of the country and areas held by the separatists in Donetsk and Luhansk Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said Russian forces held 20 percent of the country the Ukrainian defenders are entrenched and have shown the ability to counterattack “The absolutely heroic defense of the Donbas continues,” Zelenskyy said Tuesday in his nightly video address Speaking earlier to a Financial Times conference Zelenskyy insisted on Ukraine’s need to defeat Russia on the battlefield but also said he is still open to peace talks with Putin intelligence officer said the time isn’t right “You’re not going to get to the negotiating table until neither side feels they have an advantage that they could push,” said Andrea Kendall-Taylor of the Washington-based Center for a New American Security Cavusoglu is also trying to help negotiate a plan to get Ukrainian agricultural products out of the country and said he thought a plan to create a secure shipping corridor was possible. But it’s not clear if any progress was made since there was no Ukrainian representative at the meeting. Russia has said shipping could resume if Ukraine removes mines from the area near its Black Sea port of Odesa. It has pledged not to use the demined corridor to attack Ukraine — but Kyiv has voiced doubt about that promise. Moscow also says it wants to check the ships coming into Odesa for weapons. The war has helped fuel a food crisis in developing countries, since Ukraine is one of the world’s largest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil, but much of that flow has been halted by the war and a Russian blockade. An estimated 22 million tons of grains are sitting in silos in Ukraine. Karmanau reported from Lviv, Ukraine. Associated Press journalists Oleksandr Stashevskyi, John Leicester and David Keyton in Kyiv, Ukraine; Andrew Katell in New York; and Sylvia Hui in London contributed to this report. By John Leicester, Inna Varenytsia, Andrea Rosa, Associated Press By Yuras Karmanau, Elena Becatoros, Associated Press Thank you. Please check your inbox to confirm. © 1996 - 2025 NewsHour Productions LLC. All Rights Reserved. PBS is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization. Subscribe to Here's the Deal with Lisa Desjardins Officials in the Russian-backed separatist-controlled Donetsk region said at least three people were killed and 18 were wounded by Ukrainian shelling that hit a market in Donetsk city.The Donetsk News Agency showed pictures of burning stalls at the central Maisky market and several bodies on the ground The news agency said 155-mm calibre NATO-standard artillery munitions hit parts of the region on Monday.Reuters could not independently verify either report.BURNING CROPSAfter failing to take the capital Kyiv following the Feb Moscow focused on expanding control in the Donbas which comprise Luhansk and neighbouring Donetsk and where pro-Russian separatists have held territory since 2014 while also trying to capture more of Ukraine's Black Sea coast.Along the front line in the Donbas the fighting poses a new threat as the weather warms with shelling and rocket fire setting fields on fire and destroying ripening crops.Lyuba a resident in the Ukrainian-held pocket of the Donbas near the front watched a fire blazing along the fields but said she was not planning to leave Who is waiting for me there?" she said a resident who gave her name as Valya surveyed the wreckage of an apartment block local authorities said had been hit by an air strike."We went to bed "There is nothing good happening here And it is not clear how this will end."Ukrainian Presidential Adviser Mykhailo Podolyak listed equipment he said was needed from Western allies for heavy weapons parity 500 tanks and 1,000 drones.Russia issued the latest of several recent reports saying it had destroyed U.S and European arms and equipment.The defence ministry said high-precision air-based missiles had struck near the railway station in Udachne northwest of Donetsk hitting equipment that had been delivered to Ukrainian forces There was no immediate word from the Ukrainian side.Moscow has criticised the United States and other nations for sending Ukraine weapons threatening to strike new targets if the West supplied long-range missiles.Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Michael Perry Philippa Fletcher and Alex Richardson; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore Our Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles., opens new tab , opens new tab Browse an unrivalled portfolio of real-time and historical market data and insights from worldwide sources and experts. , opens new tabScreen for heightened risk individual and entities globally to help uncover hidden risks in business relationships and human networks. © 2025 Reuters. All rights reserved Reporting in Winnipeg by Ronald Popeski and in Melbourne by Lidia Kelly; Writing by Lidia Kelly; Editing by Simon Cameron-Moore Reporting by David Ljunggren and Ronald Popeski; Editing by Sandra Maler Reporting by Max Hunder; Writing by Conor Humphries; Editing by Nick Macfie President says battle in key city the ‘most difficult’ since start of the war as Donbas leaders warn Ukrainian forces have been pushed to city’s outskirts has said the battle for the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk will decide the fate of Donbas and is seeing probably the most difficult fighting since Russia’s invasion began “Sievierodonetsk remains the epicentre of the confrontation in Donbas,” Zelenskiy said in a late-night address to the nation on Wednesday evening claiming that Ukraine had inflicted “significant losses on the enemy” However, regional leaders said earlier that Ukrainian forces had been pushed back to the outskirts of the key frontline city amid heavy fighting there and in frontline villages to the south as Russia pursues a breakthrough in Donbas said most of the city was now in Russian hands and that it was no longer possible to rescue civilians stranded there “Our [forces] now again control only the outskirts of the city our [forces] are defending Sievierodonetsk It is impossible to say the Russians completely control the city,” the governor said Zelenskiy corroborated reports of heavy fighting saying the battle for Sievierodonetsk was “probably one of the most difficult during this war” “In particular the fate of Donbas is being decided there,” he added Earlier Haidai had acknowledged it was possible that Ukrainian forces would have to pull back to “stronger positions” although he also insisted that the defenders would fight for every inch of territory It is estimated there are around 15,000 civilians remaining in both Sievierodonetsk and neighbouring Lysychansk which had a combined population of around 200,000 before the war were waiting for the Russians to bring peace to the area Moscow has intensified its focus on Sievierodonetsk to the point where Ukraine’s ministry of defence estimated that Russian forces had as much as 10 times more military equipment than Ukrainian troops in some areas of the city as a “ghost town that has lost most people thousands of lives and absolutely all prospects” rocket-propelled grenade and mortar fire around Bakhmut where 400 children were taught before the war had been completely destroyed by artillery Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk are not strategic cities and Ukraine’s goal is to degrade the Russian military by fighting hard to for them But they are the only remaining parts of the Luhansk oblast not under Russian control Russia changed its invasion plan in April after its botched attempt to seize the major cities of Kyiv made up of the Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts the latter of which remains more under Ukrainian control The ministry of defence in Moscow said: “The Ukrainian group in the Donbas suffers significant losses in manpower weapons and military equipment.” It said it had caused 480 casualties overnight in fighting in Donbas and elsewhere in the country Zelenskiy said in his overnight update that Russia was trying to “to attract additional resources in the Donbas” – arguing that Moscow had to turn to reinforcements because of the strength of the resistance Britain’s Ministry of Defence said in its morning update that Russia was attacking Sievierodonetsk and the Ukrainian pocket behind it “from three directions” It added that “Ukrainian defences are holding” saying: “It is unlikely that either side has gained significant ground in the last 24 hours.” Both sides continue to take heavy casualties although precise estimates are impossible to obtain Ukrainian officials have said 100 or even 150 people a day are being killed in action while Zelenskiy said overnight that “Russia has been paying almost 300 lives a day” since it launched the invasion on 24 February 1:2931,000 Russian troops have died in Ukraine says Zelenskiy – videoFighting also continued around Mykolaiv as Ukraine persisted in trying to stage limited counterattacks towards the occupied city of Kherson Russia said it had shot down two MiG-29 aircraft and a Mi-8 helicopter in the region The Russian-installed administration in the occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine plans to stage a referendum later this year on joining Russia Russian-installed officials in Kherson province further west have already announced similar plans Ukraine said Russia was trying to distribute passports in the occupied Kherson region offering a payment of 10,000 roubles (£132) as an incentive Kyiv’s centre for national resistance said the same sum was being offered in neighbouring Zaporizhzhia region for the collection of “personal data” – but that the “vast majority” of the population was refusing to comply with the occupation administration Russia’s foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, said the onus was on Ukraine to solve the problem of resuming grain shipments – stalled by a Black Sea naval blockade run by Moscow’s navy – at a press conference on Wednesday with his Turkish counterpart, Mevlüt Çavuşoğlu. Read more“We state daily that we’re ready to guarantee the safety of vessels leaving Ukrainian ports and heading for the Bosphorus gulf the only thing needed is for the Ukrainians to let vessels out of their ports either by demining them or by marking out safe corridors,” he said Ukraine says it has no faith in the Russians and has no intention of trying to open its ports except as part of a wider international agreement a Russian news agency reported that 11 wagons of grain taken from Ukrainian silos in areas occupied by Moscow’s force were going to Crimea announced that a road corridor had opened between Russia and Crimea running through the Ukrainian territory occupied since 24 February scene of the fiercest fighting earlier in the war had now been de-mined and cargo ships were arriving Smoke rises during fighting in the Luhansk region It's been four months since Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb As Friday draws to a close in Kyiv and in Moscow The International Atomic Energy Agency said it's increasingly concerned about conditions at a Russian-occupied nuclear power plant in Ukraine The agency's head said Ukrainian workers have come under extreme stress since Russian forces took over the Zaporizhzhia facility in March following unconfirmed reports that Ukrainian staff were held against their will and abused as several other countries have long been waiting ahead of Ukraine to join the EU as it has the money and has pushed to pay the debt in rubles The default is unlikely to cause major financial shakeups in the short term but could ultimately trigger lengthy litigation raise Russia's borrowing costs even higher and further chip away at its position in the global markets Four months since Russia invaded, Ukraine faces a stark contrast Ahead of the G-7, Biden confronts Putin's latest geopolitical weapon — food Russia's economy is weathering sanctions, but tough times are ahead Russia's war in Ukraine is changing the world: See its ripple effects in all corners of the globe. You can read more daily recaps here. For context and more in-depth stories, you can find more of NPR's coverage here. Also, listen and subscribe to NPR's State of Ukraine podcast for updates throughout the day Become an NPR sponsor Luhansk governor says Russia has ‘significant advantage’ but part of city is still under Ukrainian control Russian artillery is hitting an industrial zone where 500 civilians are sheltering in the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk with all bridges out of the city destroyed as fears grow for those who have not yet managed to leave “All bridges are destroyed,” Serhiy Haidai, the governor of the Luhansk region, said in a video address on Monday evening, adding that Russia had not “completely captured” Sievierodonetsk and “a part of the city” was under Ukrainian control Haidai said Russians were continuing to storm the embattled city and “having a significant advantage in artillery” “The Russians are destroying quarter after quarter,” he said adding that the Russian army had been “partially successful at night” and controlled 70% of the city The destruction by Russian forces of the remaining two bridges over the Siverskyi Donets River over the last two days leaves stranded civilians with no escape west to the neighbouring city of Lysychansk which is also being shelled but remains in Ukrainian hands “Evacuation and transport of human cargo is now impossible,” Haidai said Addressing the nation in his nightly video address said the country was “dealing with absolute evil” “The human cost of this battle is very high for us,” he added where Haidai said 500 civilians were sheltering Haidai said the Ukrainian side was negotiating the evacuation of civilians from Azot with Moscow but so far had failed to reach an agreement with the help of [Ukrainian deputy prime minister] Irina Vereshchuk So far it has been unsuccessful,” the official said “Azot’s shelters are not as strong as in Mariupol’s Azovstal so we need to take people out with security guarantees.” Sievierodonetsk has become the focal point of Moscow’s efforts to advance in eastern Ukraine where Russia wants to capture the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk after its failure to quickly seize Ukraine’s capital Ukrainian troops were fighting street by street to hold on to the city with both Ukrainian and Russian forces suffering heavy losses head of the Sievierodonetsk district administration “Our boys are holding on but the conditions are tough,” he said Vlasenko said the city had been without communications and normal services for a month The militia head of the self-proclaimed pro-Russian republic in Donetsk warned Ukrainian troops in Sievierodonetsk they should “surrender or die” 1:09Zelenskiy: 'severe' fighting in 'literally every metre' of Sievierodonetsk – videoThe UK Ministry of Defence said in its latest intelligence report that river crossing operations were likely to be among the most important determining factors in the course of the war 90km-long central sector of Russia’s frontline in Donbas lies to the west of the Siverskyi Donets River and in order to achieve success in the current operational phase of its offensive Russia was “either going to have to complete ambitious flanking actions or conduct assault river crossings” Last month Russia incurred heavy losses during multiple attempts to cross the river Russia is believed to have lost more than 80 vehicles as a result of Ukrainian fire But given Russia’s military superiority in the Donbas, military observers said Moscow is likely to make further gains in the area, and Ukrainian officials have been making daily appeals to their western partners to send Kyiv heavier weapons “Being straightforward – to end the war we need heavy weapons parity: 1,000 howitzers caliber 155 mm; 300 MLRS; 500 tanks; 2,000 armoured vehicles; 1,000 drones … We are waiting for a decision,” Mykhailo Podolyak said during a meeting with his American counterpart late on Monday that Russian forces had a 10-fold advantage in firepower Also on Monday, the Ukrainian authorities uncovered another mass grave site in a forest near Bucha containing the bodies of seven civilian men “Seven civilians were tortured by the Russians and brutally executed with bullets in the head,” the Kyiv region police chief “Multiple victims had their hands tied and their knees shot We are working to identify the deceased,” Nebitov added Ukraine’s national police said earlier in the day that up to 1,200 bodies of Ukrainians The discovery of the mass grave came as Amnesty International released a report accusing Russia of war crimes in Ukraine saying attacks – many using banned cluster bombs – on Ukraine’s second-largest city of Kharkiv had killed hundreds of civilians “The repeated bombardments of residential neighbourhoods in Kharkiv are indiscriminate attacks which killed and injured hundreds of civilians and as such constitute war crimes,” the rights group said in a report entitled Anyone can die at any time A volunteer helps a man leaving his home in a building damaged by an overnight missile strike View of an apartment building damaged in an overnight missile strike tidy up their apartment at a building damaged in an overnight missile strike in Sloviansk The home of Eduard Zelenskyy and Nila Zelinska destroyed by attacks in Potashnya Nila Zelinska holds a doll belonging to her granddaughter she was able to find in her destroyed house in Potashnya outskirts Kyiv Zelinska just returned to her home town after escaping war to find out she is homeless Residents carry water in front of an apartment building damaged in an overnight missile strike Children wait in a car for their relatives in front of a building destroyed by attacks People line up outside a Church to get food and clothing in Borodyanka Eduard Zelenskyy walks inside his home destroyed by attacks in Potashnya Zelenskyy just returned to his home town after escaping war to find out he is homeless embrace a neighbor as they both arrive to their home town after escaping war in Potashnya Rescue workers inspect an apartment building damaged in an overnight missile strike in Sloviansk looks into a neighbor’s appartment in the building where she lives A boy runs in front of a building destroyed by attacks in Borodyanka Olena Voutenko leaves her home in a building damaged in an overnight missile strike in Sloviansk A woman stands outside a Church to receive clothing in Borodyanka A woman rides a bicycle near buildings destroyed by attacks in Borodyanka “The city is essentially being destroyed ruthlessly block by block,” Oleksandr Striuk said He said heavy street fighting continued and artillery barrages threatened the lives of the estimated 13,000 civilians still sheltering in the ruined city that once was home to more than 100,000 A Russian airstrike on Sievierodonetsk hit a tank of nitric acid at a chemical factory He posted a picture of a big cloud hanging over the city and urged residents to stay inside and wear gas masks or improvised ones Haidai said later Tuesday that “most of Sievierodonetsk” was under Russian control though he added that fierce fighting continued and the city wasn’t surrounded Sievierodonetsk is important to Russian efforts to capture the Donbas before more Western arms arrive to bolster Ukraine’s defense Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian troops in the region for eight years and held swaths of territory even before the invasion speaking before Biden’s announcement on condition of anonymity said Washington will send Ukraine a small number of high-tech The rockets could be used both to intercept Russian artillery and to take out Russian positions in towns where fighting is intense The rocket systems would be taken from U.S Ukrainian troops would also need training on the new systems which is 145 kilometers (90 miles) south of the Russian border is in an area that is the last pocket under Ukrainian government control in the Luhansk region The Donbas is made up of the Luhansk and Donetsk regions Striuk said more than 1,500 residents have died of various causes since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February Evacuation efforts from Sievierodonetsk have been halted because of shelling from fragmentation wounds and under the rubble of destroyed buildings since most of the inhabitants are hiding in basements and shelters,” Striuk said the mayor said: “There are food supplies for several more days Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the situation in the Donbas remains “extremely difficult” as Russia has put its army’s “maximum combat power” there At least three people were killed and six wounded overnight in a Russian missile strike on the city of Sloviansk Pavlo Kyrylenko said in a Facebook post Tuesday A school was among several buildings damaged A crater was blasted in the road between two apartment buildings heavily pockmarked by shrapnel The floor and stairwell of one building were smeared with blood a man whose apartment caught fire in the blast said the strike occurred in the middle of the night “I was on my sofa and suddenly my sofa just jumped in the air,” he said Mayor of besieged Ukrainian city tells residents to stay in cellars as Russian forces advance ‘block by block’ Russian forces have taken control of most of the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk but have not surrounded it, the governor of Ukraine’s Luhansk province has said as heavy fighting continued in and around the key city and civilians were told to stay underground. Serhiy Gaidai said in an online post late on Tuesday that Russian shelling had made it impossible to deliver humanitarian supplies or evacuate people. Earlier, the city’s mayor, Oleksandr Striuk, said artillery bombardments were threatening the lives of the thousands of civilians still sheltering in the ruined city, with evacuations not possible. “Half of the city has been captured by the Russians and fierce street fighting is under way,” Striuk said. “The situation is very serious and the city is essentially being destroyed ruthlessly block by block. “The Ukrainian military continues to resist this frenzied push and aggression by Russian forces. Unfortunately … the city has been split in half. But at the same time the city still defends itself. It is still Ukrainian,” he said, advising those still trapped inside to stay in cellars. Striuk estimated that about 13,000 people remained in the city out of a prewar population of about 100,000 but said it was impossible to keep track of civilian casualties amid round-the-clock shelling. He said more than 1,500 people in the city who died of various causes have been buried since the war began in February. “Civilians are dying from direct strikes, from fragmentation wounds and under the rubble of destroyed buildings, since most of the inhabitants are hiding in basements and shelters,” he said. The leader of the pro-Moscow self-proclaimed republic of Luhansk earlier admitted that Russian and pro-Moscow forces were moving more slowly than they hoped. “We can say already that a third of Sievierodonetsk is already under our control,” Russia’s Tass state news agency quoted Leonid Pasechnik as saying. Amid mounting concern for the civilians still trapped in the city Jan Egeland, the secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council aid agency, which had long operated out of Sievierodonetsk, said he was “horrified” by its destruction. “We fear that up to 12,000 civilians remain caught in crossfire in the city, without sufficient access to water, food, medicine or electricity. The near-constant bombardment is forcing civilians to seek refuge in bomb shelters and basements, with only few precious opportunities for those trying to escape.” The governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Gaidai, on Tuesday evening reiterated calls for residents to stay in shelters after he said a Russian airstrike had hit a nitric acid tank, risking the release of toxic fumes. In a post on the Telegram app he added a photograph of a large pink cloud over residential buildings. Elsewhere on the battlefield, there were few reports of major action on Tuesday. In the east, Ukraine says Moscow is trying to assault other areas along the main front, including pressing towards the city of Sloviansk. In the south, Ukraine claimed in recent days to have pushed back Russian forces on a bank of the Inhulets River that forms a border of Russian-held Kherson province. After having failed to capture Kyiv, been driven out of northern Ukraine and made only limited progress elsewhere in the east, Moscow has concentrated the full force of its armed might in recent days on Sievierodonetsk. Victory there and in adjoining Lysychansk would let Moscow claim control of Luhansk province, one of two eastern regions it claims on behalf of separatist proxies, partly achieving one of President Vladimir Putin’s stated war aims. But the huge battle has come at a massive cost, which some western military experts say could hurt Russia’s ability to fend off eventual Ukrainian counterattacks elsewhere, regardless of who wins the battle for Sievierodonetsk. “Putin is now hurling men and munitions at the last remaining major population centre in [Luhansk], Sievierodonetsk, as if taking it would win the war for the Kremlin. He is wrong,” the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War thinktank wrote this week. “When the Battle of Sievierodonetsk ends, regardless of which side holds the city, the Russian offensive at the operational and strategic levels will likely have culminated, giving Ukraine the chance to restart its operational-level counteroffensives to push Russian forces back.” The latest fighting came as Russia said on Tuesday that it will hand over the bodies of 152 Ukrainian soldiers found underneath the Azovstal steel plant in the port city of Mariupol, now under Moscow’s control. Russia’s defence ministry said its troops found “152 bodies of dead militants and servicemen of Ukraine’s armed forces” that it claims were stored inside a cooling unit and that “four mines” were found underneath the bodies. “The Russian side plans to hand over the bodies of Ukrainian militants and servicemen found on the territory of the Azovstal plant to representatives in Ukraine,” the ministry added. Officials said that would halt two-thirds of Russia's oil exports to Europe at first and 90% by the end of this year asPutin launched his "special operation" in February to disarm and "denazify" Ukraine Ukraine and its Western allies call this a baseless pretext for a war to seize territory.Ukraine accuses Moscow of war crimes on a huge scale flattening cities and killing and raping civilians Russia denies the accusations.In the second war crimes trial to be held in Ukraine two Russian soldiers were jailed on Tuesday for 11-1/2 years after pleading guilty to shelling civilian targets.Reporting by Reuters bureaux; Writing by Peter Graff Nick Macfie and Rami Ayyub; Editing by Alison Williams An eight truck convoy of life-saving humanitarian aid provided by the UN and humanitarian partners reached Sievierodonetsk on Tuesday where sustained and intense fighting is taking an enormous toll on civilians Infrastructure damage from shelling has left thousands of people in residential buildings across eastern Ukraine without electricity or gas for cooking and heating homes the residents of Sievierodonetsk are not only severely restricted in their ability to access basic necessities where fighting is ongoing and civilians in the city are in urgent need of assistance,” said UN Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator Markus Werne The inter-agency convoy from the International Organization for Migration (IOM), UN refugee agency (UNHCR), UN Children’s Fund (UNICEF), the World Food Programme (WFP) - and INGO People in Need - brought life-saving food rations plastic sheeting and blankets for some 17,000 people as well as four electricity generators for use by the local hospital The humanitarian convoy was facilitated by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) through the notification system agreed upon with both parties to the conflict “The UN and humanitarian partners delivered ready-to-eat meals flour and essential relief items such as blankets The relief will be provided to those most in need through the Ukrainian Red Cross – and deliveries will also be made to vulnerable people in their homes or bunkers around Sievierodonetsk The Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator also stressed that “we will continue to deliver here and to cities across Ukraine but what we require is protection of civilians and continued access.” Meanwhile, UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq told journalists at a regular media briefing that although the fourth inter-agency convoy has brought much-needed relief to the people of Sievierodonetsk it is just a small proportion of what is really needed now in Ukraine “Over 12 million people need humanitarian aid while insecurity and lack of access are severely impacting humanitarian organizations’ ability to operate,” he flagged And hostilities also continue to push thousands of people from their homes every day The UN spokesperson cited IOM’s second Internal Displacement Report in saying that over 7.1 million people have been internally displaced since Russia invaded Ukraine “This represents a 10 per cent increase since the last survey published on 16 March and adds to the over 4.2 million people who crossed borders to seek safety in other countries,” he observed 11.3 million people have been uprooted since the beginning of the war in Ukraine” In terms of funding, humanitarian organizations have now received nearly $610 million for their activities, which is around 54 per cent of the $1.1 billion requested in the Humanitarian Flash Appeal “With the number of people in need increasing daily the UN and our partners are revising the appeal to ensure that life-saving operations can continue to meet the growing needs,” added the Mr UN chief António Guterres on Tuesday added his voice to the growing international calls for a war crimes investigation into the killing of civilians in the Ukrainian town of Bucha UN humanitarian agencies and partners on the ground in Ukraine but access to the besieged and stricken city of Mariupol where thousands of civilians are believed to have died amidst the brutal Russian bombardment A woman walks past broken glass and blood after shelling in Kharkiv Children walk among buildings destroyed during fighting in Mariupol in territory under the government of the Donetsk People’s Republic A woman is carried from her home in an evacuation by volunteers of Vostok SOS charitable organisation in Kramatorsk Residents in villages and towns near the front line continue to flee as fighting rages in eastern Ukraine In this handout photo provided by the Ukrainian Presidential Press Office meets with Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin in Kyiv (Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via AP) A man stands in front of a damage building ruined by attacks in Hostomel Women walk among buildings destroyed during fighting in Mariupol A view of a building destroyed during fighting in Mariupol Russian soldiers Alexander Alexeevich Ivanov and Alexander Vladimirovich Bobykin leave the courtroom after their trial hearing in Kotelva Two Russian soldiers accused of war crime in Ukraine could face up to 12 years in prison In the second hearing of the trial held on Thursday at the Kotelevsky District Court the prosecutors asked for both to be sentenced to 12 years of prison while the defence attorney asked for 8 years Damaged buildings ruined by attacks are seen in Irpin Nataliia Fedorova poses for a picture at her home ruined by attacks in Irpin Liudmyla Voronina opens a skylight window on the roof of her house roof as she stands inside her home that was damaged by attacks in Irpin Voronina lives alone now fearing new attacks or that the roof will fall on her She used to live with her son and grandchildren but she does not consider it a safe place for them.(AP Photo/Natacha Pisarenko) Anatolii Chovpin stands outside the damagde building where he lives ruined by attacks in Irpin A woman who lost her home looks at donated cloths at a Sanatorium working as temporary place for people without a home Irpin A woman walks in front of a damage building ruined by attacks in Irpin mourn during a farewell ceremony in his homeland in Volzhsky A serviceman of Donetsk People’s Republic militia embraces a local woman in Svitlodarsk Svetlodarsk came under the control of the forces of the people’s republics as a result of the offensive of their units and with the support of Russian troops Ukraine — The Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk is the center of fierce fighting in the east Mayor Oleksandr Stryuk says it’s holding out even though a Russian reconnaissance and sabotage group went into a city hotel Stryuk said at least 1,500 people have been killed in Sievierodonetsk and about 12,000 to 13,000 remain in the city where he said 60% of residential buildings have been destroyed Sievierodonetsk is the only part of the Luhansk region in the Donbas under Ukrainian government control and Russian forces have been trying to cut it off from the rest of Ukrainian-controlled territory Stryuk said the main road between the neighboring town of Lysychansk and Bakhmut to the southwest remains open He said only 12 people were able to be evacuated Thursday KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR: Ukraine — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy pleaded with the West on Thursday to send multiple launch rocket systems to Ukraine as soon as possible to give it a chance against the Russian offensive in the eastern Donbas “We are fighting for Ukraine to be provided with all the weapons needed to change the nature of the fighting and start moving faster and more confidently toward the expulsion of the occupiers,” Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address to the nation He said Russian forces are wiping some eastern towns from the face of the Earth and the region could end up “uninhabited.” Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk into ashes as they did with Volnovakha and Mariupol,” Zelenskyy said Zelenskyy said at least nine people were killed and 19 wounded Among those killed was a five-month-old baby and the infant’s father with the child’s mother seriously injured Zelenskyy also had harsh words for members of the European Union who are resisting imposing even tougher sanctions on Russia including a ban on the import of Russian oil and gas embassy in Ukraine has brought one American military officer back into the country as part of the diplomatic team But the Pentagon said Thursday that no other troops are going into Ukraine at this point Pentagon Press Secretary John Kirby said the defense attache has gone back to Kyiv with other embassy staff reports to the chief of mission and is there for diplomatic work There have been ongoing questions about whether the U.S will send a Marine security detachment back to the embassy the State Department is handling embassy protection with diplomatic security personnel and has not asked for Marines “Nothing has changed about the president’s direction that US troops will not be fighting in this war in Ukraine,” Kirby told reporters at the Pentagon He said active discussions about security are ongoing with the State Department Ukraine — Two Russian soldiers accused of war crimes in Ukraine appeared at a second trial hearing in the northeastern town of Kotelva Alexander Alexeevich Ivanov and Alexander Vladimirovich Bobykin are charged with shelling civilian infrastructure with a multiple rocket launcher Both soldiers pleaded guilty at the hearing held at the Kotelevsky District Court the servicemen could face up to 12 years in prison Their defense attorney asked for eight years saying the two were only following their officers’ orders Asked if they wanted to make any declarations at the end of the hearing I believe that in the future the war will end and the peace we are all waiting for will come.” Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said Thursday he was forming a southern military command and sending battalion tactical groups to the area that borders Ukraine but battalion tactical groups typically consist of mechanized infantry including tanks The territory of Belarus was used for rocket attacks on Ukraine but the military of Belarus did not take part in the Russian ground operation Ukrainian authorities have expressed concern that Belarus may agree to a wider participation in the war BERLIN — Western allies are considering whether to allow Russian oligarchs to buy their way out of sanctions and using the money to rebuild Ukraine according to government officials familiar with the matter Canadian Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Chrystia Freeland proposed the idea at a G-7 finance ministers’ meeting in Germany last week Freeland raised the issue after oligarchs spoke to her about it The Canadian minister knows some Russian oligarchs from her time as a journalist in Moscow The official said the Ukrainians were aware of the discussions The official said it’s also in the West’s interests to have prominent oligarchs dissociate themselves with Russian President Vladimir Putin while at the same time providing funding for Ukraine The officials spoke on condition of anonymity as they were not authorized to speak publicly about internal G-7 discussions KYIV — Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin has become the latest European leader to visit Ukraine Marin met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Thursday in Kyiv Finnish public broadcaster YLE says she also visited the towns of Bucha and Irpin where Russian soldiers are alleged to have killed civilians Zelenskyy thanked Marin for Finland’s weapons deliveries and its support for sanctions against Russia Finland recently broke with its policy of non-alignment and applied for membership in NATO MOSCOW — The head of the Russia-backed separatist region in eastern Ukraine says that there may be more Ukrainian fighters hiding at the sprawling Azovstal steel mill in Mariupol even after Moscow officially declared the operation of taking control over it successful and completed Denis Pushilin of the Donetsk People’s Republic said of the Ukrainian fighters on Thursday: “They could be hiding....They could be lost somewhere lagged behind” the ones who surrendered and were captured The Russian military declared Azovstal and all of Mariupol “completely liberated” on May 20 and reported that a total of 2,439 fighters had come out of the last pocket of Ukrainian resistance in the besieged city Pushilin says any Ukrainians left behind at the plant don’t pose a threat to the Russian forces Russian officials have said the vast territory of the steel mill is being demined Pushilin said it will be possible to say there is no one left there only after that process is completed the rubble is cleared and the plant is thoroughly inspected PRAGUE — The Czech Republic’s ambassador to Ukraine has returned to Kyiv as his country seeks to reinforce its embassy before it takes over the rotating presidency of the European Union in July Czech Foreign Minister Jan Lipavsky said Thursday that the work should help fulfill the priorities of the Czech presidency which include supporting Ukraine with financial The Czech Republic is among the European nations that support a plan for Ukraine to quickly receive the status of a candidate for EU membership The government in Prague closed its embassy in Kyiv on Feb 24 after Russia invaded Ukraine Russia has started broadcasting its state television news in the ravaged port city of Mariupol and other locations it controls in eastern Ukraine Russian and Ukrainian officials said Thursday Russia’s Ministry for Emergency Situations said it has launched “three mobile complexes for informing and alerting the population” that will be “broadcasting news for two hours in different parts of Mariupol.” Such mobile units also operate in the city of Volnovakha and the Lyman district of Ukraine’s Donetsk province “practical information” and cartoons for children Russian state news agency Tass reported Thursday posted on his Telegram channel footage of MChS trucks with TV screens broadcasting Russian news shows to crowds of people in the Russian-occupied city the occupiers launched three mobile propaganda cars and additionally installed 12 75-inch TVs in places of mass gathering — humanitarian aid distribution points paperwork points and water access points,” he wrote MOSCOW — Russian President Vladimir Putin says the West will fail in its attempts to isolate Russia and face growing economic problems Speaking Thursday via video link to members of the Eurasian Economic Forum Putin said Russia wasn’t going to shut itself off from international cooperation The forum includes several ex-Soviet nations Putin said that trying to isolate Russia is “impossible utterly unrealistic in the modern world” and “those who try to do it primarily hurt themselves.” The Russian leader cited growing economic challenges in the West rupture of supply chains and the worsening of global crises in such sensitive spheres as food.” “This is a serious thing that will have an impact on the entire system of economic and political relations.” He lambasted the West for seizing Russian reserves saying that “the theft of others’ assets never brought any good.” Ukraine — A regional governor in eastern Ukraine says shelling of the city of Kharkiv killed at least four civilians Oleg Synyehubov said that another seven residents of Ukraine’s second-largest city were wounded in Thursday’s shelling Ukraine — The Ukrainian governor of the eastern Luhansk region says Russian bombardments killed three people in and around the city of Lysychansk Serhiy Haidai said Thursday that one person was killed in Lysychansk and two in the nearby village of Ustynivka amid a Russian artillery bombardment on Wednesday He said strikes in the region had hit various targets including private houses and a humanitarian aid center Haidai is the Kyiv-backed governor of the Luhansk region where the Ukrainian government is holding onto a small area around Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk in the face of a focused push by Russian forces governor Oleh Synehubov said two men ages 64 and 82 had been killed in shelling of the town of Balakliya and 10 other people were injured Switzerland — Bulgarian Prime Minister Kiril Petkov says that not enough strategic steps have been taken in recent years to prevent Europe’s growing dependence on Russian gas and to counter hybrid attacks Speaking at the World Economic Forum in Davos on Thursday Petkov said that the war in Ukraine “caused many crises to us because we had allowed ourselves to be dependent on Russia” Petkov said that after Russia’s annexation of Crimea Europe criticized Moscow but did nothing to reduce its dependence on it “While we linked the price of electricity to that of gas Russia now can not only reduce gas supplies but also regulate electricity prices in Europe,” he said Switzerland — German Chancellor Olaf Scholz has reiterated his conviction that Russian President Vladimir Putin won’t win the war in Ukraine “He has already failed to achieve all his strategic goals,” Scholz said Thursday in his speech at the World Economic Forum’s annual meeting in Davos The chancellor said that “a capture of all of Ukraine by Russia seems further away today than it did at the beginning of the war Ukraine is emphasizing its European future.” the “brutality of the Russian war” has prompted two states to move closer to NATO two close friends and partners want to join the North Atlantic alliance They are most welcome!” the chancellor said Italy — The World Food Program has been pushing to get wheat out of Ukrainian ports to help feed the hungry elsewhere in the world and avert growing food insecurity in vulnerable regions while also making room for the harvest of grain that has recently been planted “We are pushing 100% to get the food that is stuck in that port out not just for the Ukrainian economy but to get to people who need it in Yemen and Somalia and Afghanistan,’’ said WFP spokesman John Dumont Where are they going to put that wheat when it is harvest time at the end of June and July It cannot just be a little one-off humanitarian convoy MOSCOW — The Kremlin says it expects Ukraine to see what is happening in the country and to accept Moscow’s demands Asked Thursday if Russia expects Ukraine to make territorial concessions Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov replied: “Moscow expects the acceptance of its demands and the understanding of the real situation that exists de-facto.” Russia has previously demanded recognition of its sovereignty over the Crimean Peninsula It also is seeking acknowledgement of the independence of Russia-backed separatist regions in eastern Ukraine Ukrainian officials said in March that the status of Crimea and the separatist regions could be discussed later they have toughened their stand and said that Russian troops should pull back to where they were before Moscow launched a military action in Ukraine on Feb Speaking in a conference call with reporters on Thursday Peskov said: “Kyiv must acknowledge the de-facto situation and just have a sober assessment of it.” Bosnia-Herzegovina — British Foreign Secretary Liz Truss says Russian President Vladimir Putin is “trying to hold the world to ransom” by demanding that some sanctions be lifted before Russia allowed Ukrainian grain shipments to resume “He’s essentially weaponized hunger and lack of food among the poorest people around the world,” Truss said during a visit Thursday to the Bosnia to get the grain out of Ukraine and supply the rest of the world But she says that the sanctions must stay in place to cut off funding for the war in Ukraine “We need to ensure Putin loses in Ukraine,” Truss says.” What we cannot have is any lifting of sanctions which will simply make Putin stronger in the longer term.” MOSCOW — The Kremlin says that the West needs to lift some of its sanctions against Russia for grain shipments from Ukraine to resume Western allies have accused Russia of blocking grain exports from Ukraine in a move that is exacerbating food shortages in Africa and other regions Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said Thursday that “we categorically reject the accusations and accuse Western countries of taking a series of unlawful actions that has led to the blockade.” Speaking in a conference call with reporters “must cancel the unlawful decisions that hamper chartering ships and exporting grain.” MOSCOW — The Russian military says it has destroyed a large Ukrainian unit with equipment at a railway station in the east Igor Konashenkov said Thursday that the Russian warplanes hit the railway station in Pokrovsk when an assault brigade that arrived to reinforce the Ukrainian forces in the region was unloading there Konashenkov also said that the Russian military destroyed Ukraine’s electronic intelligence center in Dniprovske in the southern Mykolaiv region killing 11 Ukrainian soldiers and 15 foreign experts His claims couldn’t be independently confirmed the Russian artillery hit over 500 Ukrainian targets including troops concentrations and artillery positions The General Staff of the Ukrainian military said Thursday that the Russian forces have continued attempts to press their offensive in several sections of the frontline in the east and also launched missile and air strikes at infrastructure facilities across the country a representative of the separatist Luhansk region in Russia said that about 8,000 Ukrainian soldiers are currently in captivity in the separatist Donetsk and Luhansk regions and their number is growing daily by the “hundreds.” His claims couldn’t be independently verified LONDON — Britain’s military says Russia has suffered substantial losses among its elite units because of “complacency” among commanders and failure to anticipate strong Ukrainian resistance Ministry of Defense says the airborne VDV has been involved in “several notable tactical failures” since the Feb including the attempt to capture and hold Hostomel Airfield near Kyiv and failed attempts to cross the Siverskyi Donets River in eastern Ukraine the defense ministry said the VDV had been sent on missions “better suited to heavier armoured infantry and has sustained heavy casualties during the campaign Its mixed performance likely reflects a strategic mismanagement of this capability and Russia’s failure to secure air superiority.” It said “the failure to anticipate Ukrainian resistance and the subsequent complacency of Russian commanders has led to significant losses across many of Russia’s more elite units.” the leaf blower war or the anti-'woke' backlash World Subscribers only Germany's Friedrich Merz is embracing pragmatism World Subscribers only Trump-Carney meeting: Canada seeks reconciliation World Subscribers only Friedrich Merz bets on two private sector converts to revive the German economy and reform the state World Subscribers only Founder of Sant'Egidio community fears next pope could undo Francis's legacy Opinion 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their last positions by crossing the Siversk Donetsk River to Lysychansk in rubber dinghies and barges connected to ropes on the other bank Since the three bridges connecting the twin cities of the Luhansk province in the Donbas region are either occupied by the Russian army or destroyed by shelling this system was how the fighters had been supplied with ammunition in recent weeks that the Ukrainian armed forces had received orders to abandon Sievierodonetsk The military headquarters in Kyiv refused to confirm this announcement saying that "the movements of certain units are confidential." President Volodymyr Zelensky did not mention the retreat either in his nightly address focusing instead on the "pride" of the "historic decision" of the European Union to grant Ukraine candidate status the city that served as a rear base for the leaders and forces of the Luhansk pocket Governor Hayday confirmed to Le Monde that "the evacuation of Sievierodonetsk has been ordered." Hayday said that the operation had lasted "about 24 hours" and that he only made it public when it was over "It made no sense to stay in positions that had been constantly shelled for months in a city in ruins," said the head of the civil and military administration of Luhansk While he said that the evacuation of the last fighters took place "without any casualties," he had also pointed out over the last few days that the intensification of Russian shelling had been inflicting more and more losses on Ukrainian forces defending a city whose conquest by the Russian army seemed inevitable You have 78.25% of this article left to read Lecture du Monde en cours sur un autre appareil Vous pouvez lire Le Monde sur un seul appareil à la fois Ce message s’affichera sur l’autre appareil Parce qu’une autre personne (ou vous) est en train de lire Le Monde avec ce compte sur un autre appareil Vous ne pouvez lire Le Monde que sur un seul appareil à la fois (ordinateur En cliquant sur « Continuer à lire ici » et en vous assurant que vous êtes la seule personne à consulter Le Monde avec ce compte Que se passera-t-il si vous continuez à lire ici Ce dernier restera connecté avec ce compte Vous pouvez vous connecter avec votre compte sur autant d’appareils que vous le souhaitez mais en les utilisant à des moments différents Nous vous conseillons de modifier votre mot de passe. Votre abonnement n’autorise pas la lecture de cet article Pour plus d’informations, merci de contacter notre service commercial. Andrew Heavens and Michael Martina; Editing by Himani Sarkar KYIV, Ukraine — Russian forces are seeking to swallow-up the last remaining Ukrainian stronghold in the eastern Luhansk region, the governor said Saturday, while pressing their momentum following the withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from the charred ruins of Sievierodonetsk. Russia also launched dozens of missiles on several areas across the country far from the heart of the eastern battles. Some of the missiles were fired from Russian long-range Tu-22 bombers deployed to Belarus for the first time, Ukraine’s air command said. The bombardment preceded a meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, during which Putin announced that Russia planned to send the Iskander-M missile system to Belarus. Serhiy Haidai, the governor of Luhansk province, said on Facebook that Russian and Moscow-backed separatist fighters were trying to blockade Lysychansk from the south. The city lies just to the west of Sievierodonetsk, which has endured weeks of bombardment and house-to-house fighting. Capturing Lysychansk would give Russian forces control of every major settlement in the province, making a significant step in Russia’s aim of capturing the entire Donbas region. The Russians and separatists also control about half of Donetsk, the second province in the Donbas. Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted a spokesman for the separatist forces, Andrei Marochko, as saying Russian troops and separatist fighters had entered Lysychansk and that fighting was taking place in the heart of the city. There was no immediate comment on the claim from the Ukrainian side. Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk have been the focal point of a Russian offensive aimed at capturing all of the Donbas and destroying the Ukrainian military defending it — the most capable and battle-hardened segment of the country’s armed forces. Russian bombardment has reduced most of Sievierodonetsk to rubble and cut its population from 100,000 to 10,000. Some Ukrainian troops were holed up in the huge Azot chemical factory on the city’s edge. A separatist representative, Ivan Filiponenko, said forces evacuated 800 civilians from the plant during the night, Interfax reported. After Haidai said Friday that Ukrainian forces had begun retreating from Sievierodonetsk, military analyst Oleg Zhdanov said some of the troops were heading for Lysychansk. But Russian moves to cut off Lysychansk will give those retreating troops little respite. Some 1,000 kilometers (600 miles) to the west, four Russian cruise missiles fired from the Black Sea hit a “military object” in Yaroviv, Lviv regional governor Maksym Kozytskyy said. He did not give further details of the target, but Yaroviv has a sizable military base used for training fighters, including foreigners who have volunteered to fight for Ukraine. Russian missiles struck the Yaroviv base in March, killing 35 people. The Lviv region, although far from the front lines, has come under fire at various points in the the war as Russia’s military worked to destroy fuel storage sites. About 30 Russian missiles were fired on the Zhytomyr region in central Ukraine on Saturday morning, killing one Ukrainian soldier, regional governor Vitaliy Buchenko said. The neighboring country hosts Russian military units and was used as a staging ground before Russia invaded Ukraine, but its own troops have not crossed the border. A rescuer stands amid rubble following the destruction of a heating system plant after a Russian missile attack in Kostyantynivka, in Donetsk region, on June 24, 2022. Photo by Anatolii Stepanov / AFP / Getty Images During his meeting in St. Petersburg with Lukashenko, Putin told him the Iskander-M missile systems would be arriving in the coming months. He noted that they can fire either ballistic or cruise missiles and carry nuclear as well as conventional warheads. Russia has launched several Iskander missiles into Ukraine during the war. A senior U.S. defense official, speaking in Washington on condition of anonymity, on Friday called the Ukrainians’ withdrawal from Sievierodonetsk a “tactical retrograde” to consolidate forces into positions where they can better defend themselves. The move will reinforce Ukraine’s efforts to keep Russian forces pinned down in a small area, the official said. Following a botched attempt to capture Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, in the early stage of the invasion that started Feb. 24, Russian forces have shifted their focus to the Donbas, where the Ukrainian forces have fought Moscow-backed separatists since 2014. After repeated Ukrainian requests to its Western allies for heavier weaponry to counter Russia’s edge in firepower, four medium-range American rocket launchers arrived this week, with four more on the way. The senior U.S. defense official said Friday that more Ukrainian forces are training outside Ukraine to use the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, and are expected back in their country with the weapons by mid-July. The rockets can travel about 45 miles (70 kilometers). Also to be sent are 18 U.S. coastal and river patrol boats. The official said there is no evidence Russia has intercepted any of the steady flow of weapons into Ukraine from the U.S. and other nations. Russia has repeatedly threatened to strike, or actually claimed to have hit, such shipments. By John Leicester, David Keyton, Associated Press By Yuras Karmanau, John Leicester, David Keyton, Associated Press Reporting by Max Hunder; Writing by Alessandra Prentice; Editing by Kevin Liffey and Angus MacSwan A woman and child peer out of the window of a bus as they leave Sievierodonetsk The deafening booms of the first airstrikes A woman reacts as she waits for a train trying to leave Kyiv From the first explosions on the morning of that fateful day Ukrainians were counting their first dead and in many parts of the country found themselves under Russian occupation rushing to escape rapidly advancing Russian forces Cars line the highway as people leave the city of Kyiv No one knew whether Ukraine could withstand the onslaught of a far larger and better-equipped Russian army for loved ones — is just as unrelenting as it was that first day Smoke rises from an air defence base in the aftermath of a Russian airstrike in Mariupol Europe’s biggest armed conflict since World War II has claimed tens of thousands of lives on both sides Thousands of Ukrainian civilians have been killed in the fighting A fifth of Ukraine remains under Russian occupation with no signs that Kyiv will be able to regain control of the territories A man holds a dog as he walks past a damaged house following Russian shelling Those who have taken up arms to fight for Ukraine and who have survived this far don’t know what tomorrow will bring and when — and if — they can go back to their civilian lives And while Ukrainians have adapted to life at war that first day remains seared in their memory forever dividing life to “before” and “after.” A woman holds her baby as she gets on a bus leaving Kyiv highlights some of the most compelling images by The Associated Press from that first day of the war People walk in a subway to get a train as they leave the city of Kyiv Police officers inspect an area after an apparent Russian airstrike in Kyiv Ukraine Smoke and flame rise near a military building after an apparent Russian strike in Kyiv attends an urgent meeting with the leadership of the government representatives of the defense sector and the economic block in Kyiv A police officer takes a photo of the consequences of a Russian strike in Kyiv People gather in a shelter during Russian shelling Ukrainian servicemen sit atop armored personnel carriers driving on a road in the Donetsk region A man throws debris from a burning barn following Russian shelling outside outside Mariupol plays with his tablet in a public basement used as a bomb shelter in Kyiv A woman is reflected in a mirror as she stands with her children in a shelter during Russian shelling Children hold hands as they arrive to board a Kyiv bound train A woman holds her daughter as they sit in a basement used as a bomb shelter in Kyiv A woman walks past debris in the aftermath of Russian shelling Ukrainian Emergency Situation employees stand in a shelter during Russian shelling A woman holds her baby inside a bus as they leave Kyiv Russian forces are hitting largest city in Donbas still held by Ukraine ‘200 times an hour’ Officials in eastern Ukraine say Russian shelling of Sievierodonetsk has been so intense that it has not been possible to assess casualties and damage, as Moscow closes in on the largest city still held by Ukraine in the Donbas. “The situation has extremely escalated,” Serhiy Haidai, the governor of Luhansk region, said on Sunday. Witnesses said the city was being bombed “200 times an hour” as Russian forces try to cut off reinforcement lines and surround its remaining defenders. Ukrainian authorities have described conditions in Sievierodonetsk as reminiscent of Mariupol, the southern port city that fell on 20 May after almost three months of relentless assault. The intensified fighting came as Ukraine’s president, Volodymyr Zelenskiy, visited Ukrainian troops on the front lines in the north-eastern Kharkiv region, in his first official appearance outside the Kyiv area since the start of the war. “You risk your lives for us all and for our country,” Zelenskiy told soldiers there. Read moreHe added that Russian shelling has destroyed “the entire critical infrastructure of the city” and more than two-thirds of its housing stock. Taking Sievierodonetsk was Russia’s “principal aim” right now, the president said. The battle for Sievierodonetsk, which lies on the eastern bank of the Siverskyi Donets River, about 145km (90 miles) south of the Russian border, is in the spotlight as Russia grinds out slow but solid gains in the industrial Donbas, which comprises the Luhansk and Donetsk regions. “They don’t care how many lives they will have to pay for this,” Zelenskiy said in his latest national address, referring to Russian forces in the region. Having failed to take the capital Kyiv in the early phase of the war, Russia is seeking to consolidate its grip on the Donbas, large parts of which are already controlled by Moscow-backed separatists. It has concentrated huge firepower on a small area – in contrast to the earlier phase of the conflict, when its forces were often spread thinly – bludgeoning towns and cities with artillery and air strikes. Regional officials reported that Russian forces were “storming” Sievierodonetsk and that fighting was taking place street by street, knocking out power and mobile phone services. Sievierodonetsk’s mayor, Oleksandr Striuk, said those residents remaining in the city, which had a prewar population of about 100,000, risked exposure to shelling when they left their homes to access water. Striuk has estimated that 1,500 civilians have already died either from Russian attacks or from a lack of medicine and diseases that couldn’t be treated. Russia has also stepped up its efforts to take the neighbouring city of Lysychansk, where, according to Haidai, a Russian shell fell on a residential building over the weekend, killing a child. The “liberation” of the Donbas was an “unconditional priority” for Moscow, Russia’s foreign minister said, adding that other Ukrainian territories should decide their future on their own. “The liberation of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, recognised by the Russian Federation as independent states, is an unconditional priority,” Sergei Lavrov told French TV channel TF1 in an interview on Sunday. Read moreZelenskiy’s office posted a video on Telegram of him wearing a bulletproof vest and being shown destroyed buildings in Kharkiv and its surroundings from where Russian forces have retreated in recent weeks It was the Ukrainian president’s first official appearance outside the Kyiv area since the start of the war “Kharkiv suffered terrible blows from the occupiers … One third of the Kharkiv region is still under occupation,” he said Russian artillery pounded the city of Kharkiv for the first time in two weeks just as life in Ukraine’s second city was starting to return to normal after Moscow’s troops were pushed back from its outlying towns and villages At least nine people have been killed and 17 injured in the attacks on the northern part of the city Zelenskiy voiced hopes that his allies would provide much needed weapons and said he expected “good news” in the coming days the US and its allies indicated that they would provide Ukraine with increasingly sophisticated weapons including the multiple-launch rocket systems for which Kyiv has been appealing Ukraine said it has started receiving Harpoon anti-ship missiles from Denmark and US self-propelled howitzers Presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak repeated a call for US-made long-range multiple-rocket launchers US officials said such systems are actively being considered with a decision possible in the coming days “It is hard to fight when you are attacked from 70km away and have nothing to fight back with,” Podolyak posted on Twitter Zelenskiy said in a television interview that he believed Russia would agree to talks if Ukraine could recapture all the territory it has lost since the invasion Zelenskiy ruled out the idea of using force to win back all the land Ukraine has lost to Russia since 2014 which includes the southern peninsula of Crimea “I do not believe that we can restore all of our territory by military means we will lose hundreds of thousands of people,” he said Associated Press and Reuters contributed to this report Ukraine has staged a counterattack on the frontline city of Sievierodonetsk and recaptured a fifth of the city it had previously lost to the Russian invaders Serhiy Haidai, governor of Luhansk, said Russian forces were giving up recent gains in the city as reports also emerged of foreign fighters joining the battle for the easternmost city held by Kyiv in the fiercely contested Donbas The governor told Ukrainian television that Russia had “previously managed to capture most of the city” – but added in a tweet that the military had pushed them back by 20% “They are really suffering huge losses,” he said The claims are hard to verify amid the heavy fighting The Russians have concentrated their forces on trying to surround and capture the city in the past two weeks advancing at a rate of 500 metres to a kilometre a day Ukrainian forces have staged a counterattack on Sievierodonetsk.Ukrainians fighting on the eastern frontline estimated that their forces controlled “around 30%” of Sievierodonetsk on Saturday greater than some rough estimates from late last week They said Russian forces were running out of infantry troops and were unable to push forward a Ukrainian soldier with the Donbas battalion said the Russian army was pounding the neighbouring city of Lysychansk Two civilians died in a Russian artillery attack Thousands of civilians were still in the city Poor people are afraid of losing what little they have There is no water in the city and long queues of civilians waiting at distribution points.” Foreign fighters from countries including Australia, Georgia, France and Brazil were also being deployed by Ukraine in Sievierodonetsk according to a video report circulating widely It features an interview with a masked soldier saying he had “stepped up” to join the fighting said he was “a 22-year-old kid” from Georgia and promised to help push Russians back “We’re on the right side of the history,” he added It named them as Ronald Vogelaar, Michael O’Neill, Björn Benjamin Clavis and Wilfried Blériot. Vogelaar, 55, was previously reported by Dutch media to have been killed by artillery fire near Kharkiv last month; while O’Neill was said to be a humanitarian worker when it was reported he had been killed in late May where he told the Argentinian publication Clarin that he was “ready to die” as he headed out from Poland He said he had spent “a year in the French army” and cried when he talked about his two young children which had a population of 100,000 before the war to complete the capture of the Luhansk oblast one of the two Donbas regions claimed by Russia From there they hope to capture the Ukrainian cities of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk in the neighbouring Donetsk oblast Loud explosions could be heard from the centre of Slavyansk on Saturday from Russian artillery in the distance and from answering Ukrainian fire The city’s air raid siren went off repeatedly Some people were out and about on the streets of Slavyansk buying food The city is without gas and water and has intermittent electricity but some have remained behind and another group has returned to frontline Donbas towns after fleeing and then running out of money A wooden Russian Orthodox church, close to the Sviatohirsk monastery, around 12 miles north of Slavyansk, was pictured burning as a result of the fighting. Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskiy said four people were killed and four wounded following a Russian attack were said by Zelenskiy to be sheltering in the monastery complex British defence intelligence said that Russia had been able combine “airstrikes and massed artillery fire to bring its overwhelming firepower to bear” and so support “its creeping advance” A woman pushes a baby buggy near a building damaged during a Russian attack in Slavyansk on 4 June Photograph: Bernat Armangué/APBut the British said it had come at a cost The use of “unguided munitions has led to the widespread destruction of built-up areas in the Donbas” early on Saturday showed apartment blocks damaged and on fire Haidai acknowledged that the situation for the Ukrainians in Sievierodonetsk remained difficult but said he believed the defenders could now hold out for another fortnight A Russian victory in that timescale was “not realistic” After that, the governor said, he hoped that newly promised western Himars – multiple-launch rocket systems – could tip the balance in Kyiv’s favour by allowing Ukraine to target the Russians at a greater distance than before “As soon as we have enough western long-range weapons we will push their artillery away from our positions The Chechen leader, Ramzan Kadyrov said on Friday that he had been told by Russia’s defence minister that Russia would now “accelerate” the invasion New tactics that “will make it possible to significantly increase the effectiveness of offensive manoeuvres” had been identified a US thinktank closely following the conflict said it was sceptical about the claims made the institute said it believed “Russian forces are unlikely to be able to do so” Russian authorities began issuing passports in Kherson and Melitopol on Friday Ukraine’s military said that the Russian occupiers faced growing resistance in the southern region which had forced Moscow to reinforce its troops there This is the archive of The Observer up until 21/04/2025 The Observer is now owned and operated by Tortoise Media Donate Azot Association, or “Azot”, is a large chemical manufacturing complex in the west of the city of Sievierodonetsk, with a footprint of 6.3 km2. Prior to February 2022, it employed around 5,000 people and was one of the largest producers of ammonia and mineral fertilisers in Europe Azot was the site of a significant military battle during May and June 2022 and of a propaganda battle throughout the year in which disinformation and fake news played on both real and imagined environmental threats Whilst shelling or damage was reported by the Ukrainian authorities on multiple occasions in March little documentary footage was openly available in comparison to other frontline locations The Azot plant’s operators claim that almost all the site’s infrastructure has been damaged This includes environmentally sensitive objects such as the plant’s ammonia and nitric acid workshops; methanol and urea-ammonia-nitrate storage the power station and substations; water supply systems; and the wastewater treatment system This damage has been confirmed by analysis of satellite imagery and drone footage The damaged infrastructure has generated many sources of contamination including: deposition from the large explosion and leaks of unidentified liquids from damaged storage tanks; widespread damage to pipelines; cratering and disturbance to ash and sludge deposits; and the large volume of debris from damaged or destroyed buildings Much of the environmental risk depended on the strategies employed to manage the contents of this large industrial site before and during the fighting. Four days into the war, its operators claimed all chemicals had been relocated offsite This seems implausible given its scale – as demonstrated by the large nitric acid explosion – and because stored materials were still visible on drone footage There are also likely residuals and contaminants in equipment as well as non industry-specific pollutants such as fuel or lubricants Return to the country map here © 2025 Conflict and Environment Observatory | Charity No: 1174115 | Design by Open & Honest  May 31, 2022Ukrainian tanks move in Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine, Monday, May 30, 2022. (AP Photo/Francisco Seco)SLOVIANSK, Ukraine (AP) — Russian forces in a “frenzied push” have seized half of the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk that is key to Moscow’s efforts to quickly complete the capture of the industrial Donbas region the mayor told The Associated Press on Tuesday He said heavy street fighting continues and artillery bombardments threaten the lives of the estimated 13,000 civilians still sheltering in the ruined city that once was home to more than 100,000 It’s impossible to track civilian casualties amid the round-the-clock shelling, said the mayor, who believes that more than 1,500 residents have died of various causes since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February Electricity to the city has been cut off and people need water Moscow-backed separatists already held territory in the region and have been fighting Ukrainian troops for eight years Military analysts described the fight for Sievierodonetsk as part of a race against time for the Kremlin is in an area that is the last pocket of Ukrainian government control in the Luhansk region At least three people were killed and six more wounded overnight in a Russian missile strike on the city of Sloviansk Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko said in a Facebook post on Tuesday morning A crater marked the road between two apartment buildings heavily pockmarked by shrapnel Blood smeared the floor and stairwell of one building said the strike occurred roughly after 1:30 a.m two people were killed and four were wounded by shelling Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai said Tuesday on Telegram Haidai didn’t specify when or where the attack occurred Fighting continues in key eastern city as Volodymyr Zelenskiy says up to 100 Ukrainian soldiers dying each day Russian forces now control more than two-thirds of the key eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk conceded that Kyiv’s forces were suffering up to 100 deaths and 500 wounded every day With fierce street fighting in Sievierodonetsk, western officials suggested that the city of Sloviansk was the likely next target for a Russian advance that has made gains in the past two weeks, even as the Biden administration in the US announced it was sending advanced rocket systems to Kyiv Confirming the latest gains in Sievierodonetsk, a strategically important city in Ukraine’s east, the Luhansk regional governor, Serhiy Haidai, said on Wednesday that Russia controlled 70% of the city. Russian troops control most of the city,” said Haidai “Some Ukrainian troops have retreated to more advantageous Haidai also said “quite a few” civilians were sheltering in Soviet-era bomb shelters under a chemical plant in the city although he said the complex was not likely to become the site of a prolonged siege similar to that of the Azovstal steel factory in Mariupol Ukraine said on Tuesday that Russian forces had struck a tank containing nitric acid at a Sievierodonetsk chemical plant The high levels of attrition on the Ukrainian side whose defenders have been pounded by Russian shelling was conceded by Zelenskiy in an interview with the US Newsmax TV channel “The situation is very difficult; we’re losing 60-100 soldiers per day as killed in action and something around 500 people as wounded in action So we are holding our defensive perimeters,” he said Joe Biden announced the supply of advanced rocket systems, called Himars, and munitions that could strike with precision at long-range Russian targets as part of a $700m (£560m) weapons package expected to be unveiled on Wednesday. “We have moved quickly to send Ukraine a significant amount of weaponry and ammunition so it can fight on the battlefield and be in the strongest possible position at the negotiating table,” the US president wrote in an opinion piece in the New York Times. Read moreUkraine’s general staff said Russian forces continued to hit northern, southern and eastern districts of the city of Sievierodonetsk in Luhansk, one of two provinces in the eastern Donbas region that Moscow claims on behalf of separatists. If Russia captures Sievierodonetsk, and its smaller twin Lysychansk on the higher west bank of the Siverskyi Donets River, it will hold all of Luhansk, a key war aim of Vladimir Putin’s forces. The update added that Russian forces were regrouping and strengthening their positions in preparation for launching a renewed attack on the eastern Ukrainian city of Sloviansk in Donetsk. Russian forces currently occupy Izium, a city north of Sloviansk. The expected Ukrainian loss of Sievierdonetsk, however, “is unlikely to be the crux” of Russia’s Donbas campaign, a western official said, adding that the war that could now grind on “to the end of the year” given the slow rate of Moscow’s advance. The average gain of Russian forces in Popansa south of Sievierdonetsk has “averaged between 500 metres and one kilometre” a day in the last month, the official added, meaning capturing the remainder of the Donetsk region in the Donbas would take months more at least. Russia would have to achieve “further challenging operational objectives” to declare victory on the Kremlin’s now reduced campaign terms, the official said. That would require taking the city of Kramatorsk, and more of the M04 main road between the Ukrainian-held city of Dnipro and the Russian-held city of Donetsk, they added, and more rivers would have to be crossed in the process. “Although we see Russia is starting to learn from its mistakes and make advances in the Donbas, I think it’s important to stress that the battle for Sievierodonetsk is unlikely to be the kind of the crux of the Donetsk campaign” the official said in a briefing. The latest fighting in the east came amid predictions from some analysts that Russia may be overstretched in other areas, including around Kherson. In its daily update, the US-based Institute for the Study of War noted: “Moscow’s concentration on seizing Sievierodonetsk and Donbas generally continues to create vulnerabilities for Russia in Ukraine’s vital Kherson oblast, where Ukrainian counteroffensives continue. “Kherson is critical terrain because it is the only area of Ukraine in which Russian forces hold ground on the west bank of the Dnipro River. “If Russia is able to retain a strong lodgement in Kherson when fighting stops, it will be in a very strong position from which to launch a future invasion. If Ukraine regains Kherson, on the other hand, Ukraine will be in a much stronger position to defend itself against future Russian attack.” However, a recent limited Ukrainian counteroffensive around Kherson appears to have had only limited success so far. An official in southern Ukraine said Russian troops were retreating and blowing up bridges to obstruct a possible Ukrainian advance. Zelenskiy said in his nightly address on Tuesday that Ukrainian fighters had seen “some success in the Kherson direction”. Russia is concentrating most of its military power on trying to capture all of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region. Franz-Stefan Gady, a research fellow at the International Institute for Strategic Studies in London, also cautioned over how much impact the newly announced US rocket systems might have on the balance of the fighting and how quickly they could be effectively deployed. We have an incomplete picture of the current combat status of the Ukrainian armed forces. I would be cautious when attempting to assess how quickly 🇺🇦 would be able to integrate new platforms/weapons systems to increase combat effectiveness in a larger-scale counteroffensive. Writing on Twitter he said: “We have an incomplete picture of the current combat status of the Ukrainian armed forces. I would be cautious when attempting to assess how quickly Ukraine would be able to integrate new platforms/weapons systems to increase combat effectiveness in a larger-scale counteroffensive. “Combined arms manoeuvre is a complex undertaking. What you don’t want is rushing undertrained brigades into combat. Knowing how to rudimentary use and do simple repairs on a weapon system is merely the first step and does not indicate how effective units will be in actual combat.” Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. A Ukrainian serviceman looks at the ruins of the sports complex of the National Technical University in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday, June 24, 2022, damaged during a night shelling. The building received significant damage. A fire broke out in one part but firefighters managed to put it out. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko) Local resident Tetyana points at her house heavily damaged by the Russian shelling in Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Friday, June 24, 2022.(AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky) A man inspects the crater left by the Russian rocket in Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine, Friday, June 24, 2022..(AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky) A Ukrainian serviceman holds rocket fragments at the ruins of the sports complex of the National Technical University in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday, June 24, 2022, damaged during a night shelling. The building received significant damage. A fire broke out in one part but firefighters managed to put it out. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko) General view of the ruins of the sports complex of the National Technical University in Kharkiv, Ukraine, Friday, June 24, 2022, damaged during a night shelling. The building received significant damage. A fire broke out in one part but firefighters managed to put it out. (AP Photo/Andrii Marienko) Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks via video at the Glastonbury Festival in Worthy Farm, Somerset, England, Friday, June 24, 2022. (Photo by Joel C Ryan/Invision/AP) A flag with the image of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and the words ‘Dance For Ukraine’ is seen at the Glastonbury Festival in Worthy Farm, Somerset, England, Friday, June 24, 2022. (AP Photo/Scott Garfitt) Demonstrators hold huge Georgian, EU and Ukrainian national flags during a rally of Georgian people who want to join the EU, in front of the Parliamentary building in Tbilisi, Georgia, Friday, June 24, 2022. Tens of thousands of people again gathered in the center of Tbilisi. (AP Photo/Shakh Aivazov) Russia used its numerical advantages in troops and weapons to pummel Sievierodonetsk in what has become a war of attrition, while Ukraine clamored for better and more weapons from its Western allies. Bridges to the city were destroyed, slowing the Ukrainian military’s ability to resupply, reinforce and evacuate the wounded and others. Much of the city’s electricity, water and communications infrastructure has been destroyed. Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai said Ukrainian troops have been ordered to leave Sievierodonetsk to prevent bigger losses and move to better fortified positions. The head of the regional administration, Roman Vlasenko, said the withdrawal has already begun and will take several days. “As of now, the Ukrainian military still remains in Sievierodonetsk,” Vlasenko told CNN. “They are being withdrawn from the city at the moment. It started yesterday.” Ukraine’s military spokesman declined to confirm the retreat order, saying government policy prevents comments on Ukrainian troop movements. “Regrettably, we will have to pull our troops out of Sievierodonetsk,” Haidai told The Associated Press. “It makes no sense to stay at the destroyed positions, and the number of killed in action has been growing.” A senior U.S. defense official, speaking in Washington on condition of anonymity, on Friday called the Ukrainians’ move a “tactical retrograde” to consolidate forces into positions where they can better defend themselves. This will add to Ukraine’s effort to keep Russian forces pinned down longer in a small area, the official said. Haidai noted that while the retreat is under way, some Ukrainian troops remain in Sievierodonetsk, facing Russian bombardment that has destroyed 80% of buildings. “As of today, the resistance in Sievierodonetsk is continuing,” Haidai told the AP. “The Russians are relentlessly shelling the Ukrainian positions, burning everything out.” Haidai said the Russians are also advancing toward Lysychansk — from Zolote and Toshkivka — adding that Russian reconnaissance units conducted forays on the city’s edges but its defenders drove them out. The governor added that a bridge leading to Lysychansk was badly damaged in a Russian airstrike and is unusable for trucks. Ukrainian military analyst Oleg Zhdanov told the AP that some of the troops moving away from Sievierodonetsk are heading to the fight in Lysychansk. In other battlefield reports, the Russian Defense Ministry declared Friday that four Ukrainian battalions and a unit of “foreign mercenaries” totaling about 2,000 soldiers have been “fully blocked” near Hirske and Zolote, south of Lysychansk. The claim couldn’t be independently verified. The rockets can travel about 45 miles (70 kilometers). Also to be sent are 18 U.S. coastal and river patrol boats. The official said there is no evidence Russia has been successful in intercepting any of what has been a steady flow of military aid into Ukraine from the U.S. and other nations. Russia has repeatedly threatened to strike, or actually claimed to have hit, such shipments. The day after Ukraine was approved as a candidate to join the European Union, Zelenskyy urged Ukrainians not to focus on all that still must be done before the country is accepted into the EU but to quietly celebrate the moment and be proud of how far Ukraine has already come in moving away from its Soviet past. “Do not be happy that this is a slap in the face for Moscow but be proud that this is applause for Ukraine,” he said in his nightly video address. “Let it inspire you. We deserve it. Please smile and let God bless us all with a quiet night. Then tomorrow, again into battle. With new strength, with new wings.” In Tbilisi, Georgia, another former Soviet republic that has applied to join the EU, thousands of people rallied on Friday to demand the resignation of the prime minister over his government’s failure to implement the necessary reforms for Georgia to join Ukraine in being accepted as a candidate for EU membership. The European Council this week said Georgia had more work to do before it would be given candidate status. Zelenskyy addressed the rally by video, expressing his support for Georgia and thanking the Georgians who have come to Ukraine to join the fight against Russia. Russia invaded Georgia in 2008 and now effectively controls two breakaway territories. Zelenskyy urged music fans at the Glastonbury Festival to “spread the truth about Russia’s war.” Speaking to the crowd at the British music extravaganza by video on Friday before a set by The Libertines, Zelenskyy said, “We in Ukraine would also like to live the life as we used to and enjoy freedom and this wonderful summer, but we cannot do that because the most terrible has happened — Russia has stolen our peace.” An official with the pro-Moscow administration in the southern city of Kherson, which was captured by Russian troops early in the invasion, was killed in an explosion Friday. The pro-Russian regional administration in Kherson said that Dmitry Savlyuchenko died when his vehicle exploded in what it described as a “terror attack.” There was no immediate claim of responsibility. Reporting by Pavel Polityuk; Writing by Aleksandar Vasovic; Editing by Catherine Evans