Ukraine on Monday acknowledged difficulties in fighting in the east of the country as Russian forces occupied territory along a front-line river and stepped up pressure on two key cities ahead of an EU summit expected to welcome Kiev’s bid to join block. The governor of the Luhansk region, the site of the deadliest Russian attacks in recent weeks, said the situation had been “extremely difficult” along the entire front line there since Monday afternoon and that the Russian army had amassed sufficient reserves to launch a large-scale offensive. attack. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had predicted that Moscow would escalate its attacks ahead of the EU summit on Thursday and Friday. In his usual overnight speech in the country on Monday, he was provocative, while also referring to the “difficult” battles in Luhansk for Siyevierodonetsk and his sister city of Lysikhansk. “We are defending Lysychansk, Sievierodonetsk, this whole area, the most difficult. We have the most difficult matches there. “But we have our strong boys and girls there,” he said. “The conquerors are responding to their actions against us.” Speaking on national television, Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai said Russian forces had taken control of most of Sievierodonetsk, except for the Azot chemical plant, where hundreds of people have taken refuge for weeks, and the road connecting Sievierodonetsk and the sister city of Lysychansk with the city of Bakhmut. was under constant shelling. “Lysychansk has been suffering from massive Russian bombardment all day. “It is impossible to determine the number of victims so far,” he said, adding that the bombings were probably the heaviest the city has ever experienced. Even so, the Russians had not yet completed a siege of Ukrainian forces, causing them “significant losses,” he said. Moscow’s separatist proxies have claimed control of Toshkivka, a town on the west bank of the Siverskyi Donets River, which is controlled mainly by Ukraine south of Sievierodonetsk. Mr Gaidai had earlier acknowledged that a Russian attack on Toskivka had “a degree of success” and said Russian forces were also seeking a stronghold near Ustinovka, a village north of the river. They brought a huge amount of heavy equipment there, including tanks, he said. He confirmed Russia’s claim that it had seized Metyolkine. EU leaders’ approval of Ukraine as an official candidate for membership in the bloc would be seen as a triumph in Kyiv, which applied for membership just four days after Russia’s February 24 invasion. Accession would take years to achieve, but for the EU to reach deep into the heart of the former Soviet Union, it would bring about one of Europe’s greatest economic and social transformations since the Cold War. “I think this is very likely to happen,” US President Joe Biden told reporters when asked on Monday if he believed Ukraine would join the EU. DISPOSAL PHASE The war has entered a violent phase of decay in recent weeks, with Russian forces concentrating their overwhelming artillery power on Ukrainian-controlled parts of Donbass, which Moscow is claiming on behalf of the separatists. Ukrainian officials reported three civilian deaths in Russian bombings in the Donetsk region on Monday and three more in bombings in the Kharkiv region. In Odessa, Ukraine’s largest port on the Black Sea, a Russian missile strike destroyed a food warehouse on Monday, the Ukrainian military said. No civilians were reported killed. Odessa has been sporadically bombed during the war and has been excluded from the Russian navy. The Russian-backed Crimean leader, whom Russia annexed from Ukraine in 2014, said Kyiv had hit drilling rigs in the Black Sea owned by a Crimean oil company. Three people were injured and investigations are underway into seven workers, he said. The Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported that the platforms were located 71 kilometers from Odessa. Reuters could not immediately confirm the reports. Washington and its European allies have provided arms and financial assistance to Ukraine, but have avoided direct involvement in the conflict. Some Americans, however, have volunteered to fight on the side of Ukrainian forces. On Monday, the Kremlin said two Americans detained in Ukraine were mercenaries not covered by the Geneva Conventions and should be held accountable for their actions. The comments made by Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peshkov were the first official admission that the two men, identified in US reports as Andy Huynh, 27, of Hartselle, Ala., And Alexander Drueke, 39, of Tuscaloosa, Ala. ., are held. This month, two Britons and a Moroccan were sentenced to death by a separatist court after being arrested for fighting in Ukraine. Mr Peshkov also said that US basketball star Britney Greener, who had been detained in Russia for more than two months, was being prosecuted for drug offenses and was not being held hostage. Russian customs officials say cartridges containing hashish oil were found in Ms Greener’s luggage. International concern has focused on efforts to restore Ukrainian food exports, which have now been shut down by a de facto Russian embargo. Ukraine is one of the world’s leading sources of food grains and oils, raising fears of global shortages and hunger. Russia blames food crisis on Western sanctions restricting its own exports. The war has also disrupted energy markets, including Russian oil and gas shipments to Europe, which continue to be the continent’s main energy source and Moscow’s main source of income. Moscow blames EU sanctions for reducing gas supplies, saying they have prevented it from rehabilitating pipeline equipment. On Monday, US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen said the United States was in talks with Canada and other allies to further curtail Moscow’s energy revenues by imposing a price cap on Russian oil. Moscow, meanwhile, has threatened to retaliate against EU member Lithuania over a ban on transporting basic goods to Kaliningrad, a Russian outpost on the Baltic Sea surrounded by EU territory. The ban, which took effect on Saturday, prevents shipments of coal, metals, building materials and advanced technology. Russia’s foreign ministry has summoned Lithuania’s top diplomat and called on Vilnius to immediately withdraw the “openly hostile” move, otherwise Russia “reserves the right to take measures to protect its national interests”. Lithuania has said it needs to impose a ban under EU sanctions. Drone footage showed that once a prosperous tram depot in northern Kharkiv was turned into a tram “cemetery” after Russia launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine on February 24. Reuters Our Morning and Afternoon Newsletters are compiled by Globe editors, giving you a brief overview of the day’s most important headlines. Register today.
