Volodymyr Zelenskyy describes the combat in Sievierodonetsk as “extremely brutal… very difficult” and explains that the fighting there is important to Russia’s plan to seize the Donbas region of Ukraine.
The fate of the Donbas, according to the president of Ukraine, relies on “extremely violent” combat in Sievierodonetsk, a city that has been a critical battleground in recent weeks.
Russia is besieging the eastern city as it pursues its objective of seizing the expansive Donbas area.
In his nightly speech, President Zelenskyy stated, “This is a particularly nasty and difficult combat, probably one of the toughest of the entire war.”
“Sievierodonetsk is still the focal point of the conflict in Donbas… The majority of the fate of our Donbas is currently being decided there,” he added.
He stated that Ukraine was “inflicting huge losses on the enemy,” but yesterday, several forces withdrew to the city’s outskirts due to intense shelling.
The city center, which had a pre-war population of approximately 100,000, is being turned into a wasteland, according to the governor of one of the two Donbas regions, Luhansk.
Serhiy Gaidai stated, “Our fighters are holding on in the Sievierodonetsk industrial zone.”
However, fighting is occurring not only in the industrial zone but also in the city of Sievierodonetsk itself.
Oleksiy Arestovych, a presidential adviser, stated that distant warplanes and artillery were shelling the city. “They are pounding hard without much success,” he continued.
According to Kyiv’s US ambassador, Ukrainian forces are vastly outnumbered in the Donbas.
However, it is believed that the longer-range rocket systems being deployed from the United States and the United Kingdom will assist combat the Russian artillery that is causing so much damage.
“Eternal procession of death” in the ruins
As fighting rages in Sievierodonetsk, an officer in Mariupol stated that they are discovering an “endless caravan of death” as they search wrecked buildings.
Fifty to one hundred victims are being discovered in each destroyed apartment building, and around one-fifth of the city’s buildings have been combed through thus far, according to mayoral aide Petro Andryushchenko.
The deceased is transported to landfills and mortuaries.
According to Ukrainian estimates, at least 20,000 people were murdered during the war’s fiercest offensive, and the city is currently under Russian control.
In the meantime, political squabbling continues over the war’s impact on food supplies.
Russia has voiced support for a United Nations initiative to restore grain exports from Ukraine. There are an estimated 22 million tonnes of waste in the country.
Ukraine is a significant producer of wheat, corn, and sunflower oil, and it is feared that the Russian blockade of ports could lead to a severe food shortage in some developing nations.
Turkey has been attempting to broker an agreement to reopen the ports, and on Wednesday, Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov met with his Turkish counterpart.
Mr. Lavrov stated that the ports might resume operations if the mines in the surrounding waters are removed.
However, Ukraine is concerned that it would allow Russia to launch an attack on the shore and does not believe Kremlin assurances to the contrary.
Russia, a key grain exporter, has blamed Western sanctions against its ships for the food supply problems.
The president of the European Council, Charles Michel, has refuted the allegations and accused Russia of “weaponizing food supplies and covering their acts with a web of Soviet-style disinformation.”
