Invasion of Ukraine: Russia is close to achieving its goal of controlling the Donbas region

Kyiv, Ukraine — Russian forces shelled the last Ukrainian holdouts in a separatist-controlled eastern province, including a city where 1,500 people have been killed and 60% of residential buildings destroyed since the start of the war, according to reports. authorities.

More about the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

The Ukrainian foreign minister warned that, without a new injection of foreign weapons, it will be impossible to prevent Russia from seizing Sievierodonetsk and neighboring Lysychansk, crucial locations for Russia to finish occupying the Donbas industrial region.

They are the last areas under Ukrainian control in Luhansk, one of two provinces that make up the region. Russian forces advance slowly but steadily by shelling and trying to encircle Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk.

THE IMPACTS OCCURRED AT VARIOUS POINTS IN KHARKIV

“The Russians are shelling residential neighborhoods incessantly,” Governor Serhiy Haidai said in a Telegram message on Friday. “The residents of Sievierodonetsk have forgotten when was the last time there was half an hour of silence in the city.”

Russian shells have killed four people in the city in the past 24 hours, it added. Mayor Oleksandr Stryuk said Thursday night that at least 1,500 people have been killed in Sievierodonetsk since the Russian invasion began on February 24.

Some 12,000 to 13,000 remain in the city — up from 100,000 before the war — and 60% of residential buildings are destroyed, he said.

Struyk said a Russian sabotage and exploration group entered a hotel and that the main road between neighboring Lysychansk and the city of Bakhmut to the southwest is still open but dangerous. Only 12 people could be moved on Thursday.

In Donetsk, Donbas‘s other province, Russian-backed rebels said they control Lyman, a major railway hub north of two other crucial cities under Ukrainian control. The Ukrainian authorities did not immediately confirm the fact. As hopes fade of stopping the Russian offensive, Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba implored Western nations to send more weapons so defenders can “fight back” Russian forces.

“We need heavy weapons. The only position where Russia outranks us is in the number of heavy weapons they have. Without artillery, without multiple launch rocket systems we won’t be able to repel them,” Kuleba said in a video posted on Twitter Thursday night. He said the situation in the east was “worse than people say… If you care about Ukraine, (send) guns, guns, and more guns.”

In his evening address to the nation, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy sharply criticized the European Union, which has not agreed to the sixth round of sanctions, including an embargo on Russian oil. “Of course, I thank the friends who promote new sanctions,” said the Ukrainian president.

“But where did those blocking the sixth packet get so much power? Why are they allowed to have so much power, even in intra-European proceedings? Zelenskyy spoke bluntly about what is at stake in the battle for eastern Ukraine.

“The pressure on Russia is a matter of saving lives,” he said. “And with each day of delay, weakness, various disputes or proposals to ‘appease’ the aggressor at the expense of the victim, the deaths of Ukrainians increase. Additionally, the threats to everyone on our continent.”