Fierce fighting continues to rage today for control of Severodonetsk, in eastern Ukraine, with Moscow claiming to have "liberated" the populated areas and Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky praising the "heroic" defence of that city in Donbass.
The Russians say they have "completely liberated" the populated areas of this strategically important city to control the entire Donbass valley. "The occupation of the industrial zone and neighboring areas continues," Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu assured in a rare televised briefing.
His statements were disputed by Kiev. "They do not control the city," Sergei Gaidai, governor of Luhansk province, which together with Donetsk make up Donbas, replied a few hours later in a Telegram message.
However, he admitted that "it is very difficult to hold Severodonetsk," calling it an "impossible task."
"The enemy, the Russian army, has mobilized all the forces, all the reservists, to cut the long road that connects Lysychansk with Bakhmut in order to take Severodonetsk. They are heavily bombing Lyshchansk," Gaidai said.
Need for weapons
The cities of Severodonetsk and Lyshchansk, separated by a river, are the last ones under Ukrainian control in Luhansk province. Their capture would open the way for the Russians to Kramatorsk, the major city of Donetsk.
For his part, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zhelensky assured in his daily address last Tuesday night that "the situation on the front has not changed significantly over the past 24 hours," adding that "the heroic defense of Donbass continues."
"It is becoming noticeable that the occupation forces did not believe that the resistance of our army would be so strong and now they are trying to bring new forces to Donbass," the Ukrainian president noted.
For this reason, Ukrainian soldiers "are in dire need of heavy weapons which could counter the enemy's artillery," Gaidai noted, calling for "Western artillery."
Kiev claims to have inflicted heavy losses on the Russians. "More than 31,000 Russian soldiers have been killed in Ukraine," Zelensky said yesterday."
"Since February 24, Russia has been paying for this completely absurd war with nearly 300 soldiers' lives every day. But the day will come, even for Russia, when the number of casualties will be unacceptable."
No account can be independently confirmed, but yesterday, Tuesday, the head of the pro-Russian separatist rebels confirmed the death of a Russian general, Roman Kutuzov.
"Executioner's Book"
In addition, Zelensky announced that Ukraine will launch a "Executioner's Book", a system to collect evidence of war crimes committed by the Russians.
Ukrainian prosecutors say that since Russia's invasion they have documented more than 1,200 alleged war crimes involving more than 600 suspects.
"Next week we will launch a special publication, 'The Book of Executioners', a system to collect data on war criminals, criminals of the Russian military," the Ukrainian president explained.
Zelensky estimated that this would be a key element of his commitment to hold Russian military officers accountable for what Kiev alleges are murders, rapes and looting.
"This is specific evidence about specific individuals, guilty of specific, cruel crimes against Ukrainians," he said, citing Butchnya, the Kiev suburb where investigators have found evidence of mass executions.
Source: in.gr
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