Ukraine War: Soldiers at Severodonetsk plant demand surrender as President Zelenskyy says military losses are ‘painful’ | World News

Russia asked Ukrainian forces hiding in the chemical plant in Severodonetsk to lay down their weapons and surrender this morning.

It comes as Moscow’s forces move closer to taking control of the strategically important city – one of the last cities in the Donbas region that they have yet to capture.

Ukraine says more than 500 civilians and an unspecified number of soldiers are trapped inside Azot, a chemical plant where they took shelter from a Russian bombardment that left much of the city in ruins.

Mikhail Mizintsev, head of Russia’s National Center for Defense Management, told Interfax news agency that the Ukrainian army should “stop the senseless resistance and lay down arms” from 6am UK time.

He promised civilians would be able to escape through a humanitarian corridor – although his words came a day after it was reported that two of the three bridges outside the city have been destroyed, with the third old and unsafe.

The governor of Luhansk, Serhiy Haidai, said that civilians in Azot “couldn’t stand it any longer in the bunkers, their psychological state was on the brink”.

The situation is reminiscent of the battle for the Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol, where hundreds of fighters and civilians sheltered until their surrender in May. Ukrainian soldiers in this case are still detained by Russia.

Haidai said the Russians control about 80 percent of Severodonetsk, and he told the AP news agency that mass evacuations of civilians right now is “simply impossible”.

About 12,000 people remain in Severodonetsk, compared with a population of 100,000 before the war.

Main developments:
• A senior US defense official told Foreign Policy magazine that Russia’s options are limited while Vladimir Putin refuses to officially declare war on Ukraine. The Russian president still describes the invasion as a “special military operation”, meaning he cannot withdraw troops from the general population
• Farmers in Odesa have begun to harvest grain, but Russia’s invasion will mean a global shortage of wheat for at least three seasons, Ukraine’s Agriculture Minister said.
• There are reports of overnight shelling in the Kharkiv area and the UK Ministry of Defense says Russian forces appear to have made small gains there for the first time in weeks

Loss in many parts of Ukraine is ‘painful’

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said on Tuesday evening that the losses in Severodonetsk and the northeastern city of Kharkiv were “painful”.

“But we have to try – this is our state,” he added.

Ukraine says between 100 and 200 of its soldiers are losing their lives every day, with hundreds injured. Russia did not provide figures, but its losses are also thought to be very high.

The other main city in Luhansk still under Ukrainian control is Severodonetsk’s twin city of Lysychansk – but the loss of the bridge means access between the two cities is difficult and fighters are at risk. surrounded by Russian troops.

Ukraine continues to plead with Western powers for more weapons to help defend the rest of its territory in the Donbas, an area that includes Luhansk and Donetsk.

Russia claims to have destroyed several arms shipments from the US and Europe in recent weeks.

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Russia bans senior British journalists

Also on Tuesday, Russia released a list of 29 British defense and media figures that it has banned from leaving the country.

The Foreign Office said the list was a response to British media “deliberately disseminating false and one-sided information” about the war.

It includes Sky News chief correspondent Stuart Ramsay and political presenter Sophy Ridge, as well as reporters for the BBC, The Times and The Guardian.