Russian troops have intensified their offensive against Severodonetsk, the last base city in Luhansk Oblast, eastern Ukraine, claiming that pro-Russian militants dominated one-third of the city.

Ukraine has also rebelled, suggesting that Russia's Putin administration will lift the blockade of grain and other export ports in exchange for lifting sanctions by the West.

Russian troops are intensifying their offensive to siege Severodonetsk, and Luhansk Oblast's pro-Russian armed leader, Pasetinik, told Russia's state-run Tass news agency on the 31st that it "already controls one-third of Severodonetsk. I smelled it. "



The British Ministry of Defense pointed out on the 31st that "urban warfare may be taking place in the suburbs of Severodonetsk" and "if the Russian army seizes Severodonetsk, it will aim for further seizure of Kramatorsk etc." , Kramatorsk, a major city in eastern Donetsk Oblast, is analyzed to be the next target.



Meanwhile, Russian President Vladimir Putin met with Turkish President Erdogan on the phone on the 30th, and according to the Russian Presidential Office, "President Putin, in cooperation with Turkey, has grain from the ports of the Black Sea and Azov Sea facing southern Ukraine. We are ready to promote sea transportation, including exports. "



On the other hand, he emphasized that "if the sanctions on Russia are lifted, many agricultural products and fertilizers can be exported," and suggested that in exchange for the lifting of sanctions by the West, the blockade of export ports such as grains will be lifted. It is a shape.



In response, Ukraine's President Zelensky said on the 30th that 22 million tons of grain could not be exported from Ukraine. There is a risk of hunger in Africa, Asia and some European countries. "



At the summit meeting in Belgium on the 31st, the EU = European Union will discuss the situation where exports of grains etc. from Ukraine are not possible and food security.