Russia advances on war frontline in east Ukraine
Amid Ukraine’s EU entry nod, Russians were able to capture two settlements in the Donbas region
KYIV/BRUSSELS: Ukraine said on Thursday that its troops lost control over two settlements in the eastern Donbas region even as European leaders prepared to formally accept Ukraine as a candidate to join the EU.
Ukraine’s general staff said Russian forces took control of the villages of Loskutivka and Rai-Oleksandrivka, and were trying to capture Syrotyne, a settlement outside the province’s urban administrative centre, Sievierodonetsk.
Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai told The Associated Press that the Russians were “burning everything out” in their offensive to encircle Ukraine’s fighters.
For weeks, Russian forces have pummeled Sievierodonetsk with artillery and air raids, and fought the Ukrainian army house-to-house. Ukrainian forces remain holed up with about 500 civilians at the Azot chemical plant, the only part of the city still under Ukrainian control.
Haidai said the Ukrainian soldiers warded off the city’s seizure from the plant’s sprawling underground structures, but he noted that “the shelling has intensified, and even concrete shelters can’t withstand the bombardment.” The Russians were using their entire arsenal — heavy artillery, tanks and aircraft — he said.
Lysychansk, located on a steep river bank facing Sievierodonetsk, also faces a relentless Russian artillery barrage. At least one civilian died and three others were wounded in 24 hours as the Russians concentrated more than 100 multiple rocket launchers to “pummel entire blocks,” the governor said.
The British defence said Russian forces had likely advanced more than 5km toward the southern approaches of Lysychansk since Sunday.
Ukraine’s military said the Russians were also moving to overtake the hills overlooking a highway linking Lysychansk with Bakhmut, to the southwest, in an attempt to cut the supply lines of Ukrainian forces.
Meanwhile, Ukraine waited “for the green light” to receive EU candidacy status as European leaders met in Brussels to discuss Kyiv’s future, four months into the Russian invasion. It is a bold geopolitical move triggered by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine but a reminder that the 27-nation bloc will need a major overhaul as it looks to enlarge again.
Although it could take Ukraine more than a decade to qualify for membership, the twoday European Union summit decision will be a symbolic step that signals the bloc’s intention to reach deep into the former Soviet Union.
“Today the EU is sending a message of solidarity to the people of Ukraine that you belong to the European family, that you belong to the EU,” Irish Prime Minister Micheal Martin said on arrival for the summit.
A draft of the summit statement showed that EU leaders will again give “full and unequivocal commitment to the EU membership perspective of the Western Balkans”.
The US said it will send another $450 million in military aid to Ukraine, including some additional medium-range rocket systems on Thursday.
The latest package will include a number of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, and is expected to be announced later Thursday. The initial four HIMARS that the U.S. sent have already gone into Ukraine.