Reuters news agency quoted Sergey Gaidi, governor of the eastern Ukrainian province of Lugansk, as saying that Russian forces entered the strategic city of Severodonetsk, after a days-long attempt to besiege Ukrainian forces, in light of the largest advance of Russian forces in the Donbass region since the start of the war last February.

The governor of Lugansk region added that the Ukrainian forces may be forced to withdraw from the city, which is the last area of ​​their control in the region, in order to avoid being encircled or capturing its elements with the rapid progress made by the Russian forces in the eastern region.

The local military administration in Severodonetsk said that they were almost completely surrounded by Russian forces, and the governor of Lugansk region reported that 90% of the buildings of Severodonetsk, one of the largest cities in Donbass, were destroyed.

Liman front

Before the Russian army entered Severodonetsk, Moscow-backed separatist forces took control of Lyman, a major railway center to the west of Severodonetsk, opening the way to large cities such as Loviansk and Kramatorsk.

Ukrainian officials said Russia had captured most of the city, but added that their forces were blocking the advance to Sloviansk, a city half an hour's drive southwest of Lyman and one of the main cities in the Donbass region.

Ukrainian presidential adviser Oleksiy Aristovich said last night that the well-organized attack on the Lyman front showed that the Russian army, which was expelled from the capital Kyiv last March, is improving its tactics and operations.

Sloveniask targeting

And the Ukrainian Army Staff Command said yesterday that the Russian forces began an attack on the city of Sloviansk (north of Donetsk), as they are trying to break into the Ukrainian defense lines and cut the supply line to the city of Severodonetsk, near the city of Bakhmut.

Over the past 48 hours, Maxar has published new high-resolution satellite images that reveal active Russian military operations in/and near the cities of Lyman and Popasna in eastern Ukraine, where Russian forces control territory in the Lugansk and Donetsk regions.

These photos show the deployment of Russian artillery and armored units moving from the north and east of Popasna towards the city of Lyman.

The Russian advance in Donetsk and Lugansk follows a Ukrainian counter-attack that this month pushed Russian forces away from Kharkiv, Ukraine's second largest city, but Moscow prevented Ukrainian forces from attacking the back lines of Russian supply lines to Donbas.

On Thursday, Russian forces bombed parts of the city of Kharkiv itself for the first time in days, and local authorities said that 9 people were killed as a result of the bombing.


south ukraine

In southern Ukraine, where Moscow has also seized swathes of territory since the war began, Ukrainian officials believe Russia aims to impose permanent rule.

The Ukrainian military said Russia was shipping military equipment from Crimea to build defenses in anticipation of a possible counterattack by Ukraine, and was laying mines on the banks of a huge reservoir behind a dam on the Dnipro River that serves as a dividing line between Russian and Ukrainian forces.

In a related context, the Wall Street Journal quoted US officials as saying that the administration of President Joe Biden is expected to announce next week the dispatch of long-range multiple launch missile systems "MLRS" (MLRS) to Ukraine, Kyiv says. They are necessary to counter the Russian offensive in the Donbass.

This American newspaper reported that long-range missile systems may reach Ukraine within weeks, and its forces will need at least a week to train in their use.

It also says that it is also expected to supply Ukraine with high-mobility and high-precision HIMARS missile systems.

Both missile systems can fire projectiles at a distance of 300 km.

On the other hand, CNN said that Ukraine requested these types of weapons, however, the US government was hesitant due to concerns that Kyiv might use missile systems to launch attacks on Russian soil, and this American network indicated that the question was He begs whether this could lead to Russian retaliation against the United States.

The Wall Street Journal quoted US officials as saying that the Biden administration is expected to announce next week that it will send long-range multiple launch missile systems "MLRS" (MLRS) to Ukraine.

political developments

On the political front, European Union officials said that an agreement could be reached by Sunday to ban Russian oil shipments by sea, which make up about 75% of the bloc's supply, but not through pipelines, a compromise to persuade Hungary and start a new round of sanctions. on Russia.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky criticized - in a speech last night - the European Union for its reluctance to impose a ban on Russian energy imports, saying that the union funds Moscow's war efforts with one billion euros per day.

In a phone call with Austrian Chancellor Karl Nehammer, Russian President Vladimir Putin stuck to his position that the global food crisis caused by the conflict can only be resolved if the West lifts sanctions on his country.

The Russian blockade of Ukrainian ports led to the suspension of grain shipments, which led to a rise in international prices, especially that the two countries are major grain exporters in the world.

Moscow accuses Kyiv of laying mines in the ports, while the latter describes the Russian position as "blackmail".

Zelensky and Putin

Earlier, the Ukrainian president said that he is not enthusiastic about talking with his Russian counterpart, but that he will have to face the fact that this will likely be necessary to end the war.

On the other hand, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov described Zelensky's statements as conflicting.

In a related context, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, Karim Khan, said yesterday in an interview with Agence France-Presse that Moscow should cooperate with an investigation they are launching into possible war crimes committed in Ukraine since Russia began its war on its neighbor.

Karim Khan added that Russia refuses to cooperate with the court on the investigation into Ukraine, stressing that those who committed war crimes may be brought to trial, but he refused to say if the Russian president might be considered a suspect.

Russia has continued, since last February 24, to launch a military operation inside the territory of its neighbor Ukraine, which has left a humanitarian crisis and severely affected the food and energy sectors in the world, and Moscow says that Ukraine's plans to join the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) represent a threat to Russian national security, It calls on it to be neutral, which Kyiv considers an interference with its sovereignty.