Ukraine War: ‘Unrealistic’ for Russian forces to capture Severodonetsk in the next two weeks after Ukrainian forces retake the city, Governor declares | World News
Ukrainian troops have recaptured part of the city of Severodonetsk – the main focus of the Russian offensive and the site of fierce fighting – according to the statement.
Serhiy Hayday, governor of the Luhansk region, said Ukrainian forces had recaptured 20% of the territory they had lost in the factory city as the conflict in the east of the country flared up.
He said the gains meant it was “unrealistic” that the city would fall in the next two weeks despite Russian reinforcements being deployed.
Russia took almost all of Luhansk, one of two regions of southern Ukraine that make up the enclave known as the Donbas, but has been plagued by defeats elsewhere since the invasion.
War has 100 days have passed nowwith fighting mainly concentrated in the south and east of Ukraine after Kremlin forces withdrew from Kyiv following their failure to capture the capital city.
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Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy says ‘victory will be ours’ as war with Russia enters 100th day
Meanwhile, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that Russian forces will “accelerate” “special military operations” in Ukraine during a meeting with Chechen Leader Ramzan Kadyrov, Institute for the Study of War ( ISW) reported.
However, the US-based think tank, which analyzes the military situation unfolding on the ground, said Russian forces were “hardly able to do so” despite the minister’s statement.
Russian forces have captured more and more of Severodonetsk in recent days, so Ukraine’s recapture of part of the city is remarkable if the claims are true.
Governor Hayday added: “As soon as we have enough Western long-range weapons, we will push their artillery out of our position.
“And then, believe me, the Russian infantry, they will run,” he added.
Workers inspect a warehouse of damaged timber after the strike, amid Russia’s attack on Ukraine, on the outskirts of Kharkiv
Ukrainian officials are counting on advanced missile systems that the US and UK recently pledged to turn the war in their favor, and the Ukrainian military has begun training them.
Two people died and at least two were injured in Russian shelling on civilian infrastructure in the northeastern region of Kharkiv on Friday, Ukraine’s Interfax reported.
In the south of the country, there are still concerns about millions of tons of Ukrainian grain languishing in storage tanks as Russian ships blockade ports in the Black Sea.
Russian President Vladimir Putin on Friday denied that Moscow was preventing Ukraine’s ports from exporting grain, blaming rising global food prices for the West.
The Wall Street Journal reports that Poland is scouring Europe for wagons and containers in the hope of easing the flow of grain out of Ukraine.
There have been concerns that the ongoing conflict will spark a global food crisis as Ukraine and Russia are two of the world’s largest grain exporters.
Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko – a key ally of the Kremlin – said he was ready to allow the shipment of Ukrainian grain to the Baltic Sea ports via Belarus if it was allowed to transport Belarusian goods from these ports.
Meanwhile, in occupied Kherson, local resistance has caused pro-Russian officials to move with a lot of security, wearing armor, the Ukrainian Navy claims.
