Europe 1 with AFP 06:48, July 03, 2022

On the 130th day of war in Ukraine, pro-Russian separatist forces announced yesterday that they had surrounded the city of Lyssychansk, the last major city in eastern Ukraine controlled by Ukrainian forces.

While Belarus is threatening kyiv, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has accused Moscow of using "deliberate terror" after the numerous bombings in Ukraine. 

THE ESSENTIAL

Heavy fighting raged Saturday in Lyssychansk, a major city in eastern Ukraine, at the heart of the battle for control of Donbass, while Belarus claimed to have shot down missiles fired from Ukraine and threatened to retaliate in the future.

In Donbass, an industrial region in eastern Ukraine, largely Russian-speaking, partly controlled by pro-Russian separatists since 2014 and which Moscow aims to conquer, information from Lyssytchansk was contradictory.

"The fighting is raging (...) Fortunately, the city is not surrounded and is under the control of the Ukrainian army", assured during the day on television Rouslan Mouzytchouk, spokesman for the National Guard of the 'Ukraine.

The Moscow-backed separatists, quoted by the TASS news agency, have previously claimed that the city was "totally surrounded".

Lysychansk is the last major city not to be in Russian hands in the Lugansk region, one of the two Donbass provinces and "epicenter of the fighting", in the words of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Saturday evening.

The city, which had nearly 100,000 inhabitants before the war, is twin to that of Severodonetsk, conquered last week by Moscow after the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces after several weeks of battle.

The two towns are separated by the Donets, the main tributary of the Don.

The capture of Lyssytchansk would allow the Russian army to advance towards Sloviansk, about sixty kilometers to the west, already under fire from Russian artillery, and Kramatorsk, another large city in Donbass whose inhabitants bear the noise daily bombardments and warning sirens.

On Saturday morning, the Ukrainian General Staff claimed to have repelled a Russian offensive a few kilometers west of Lysytchansk, while the day before, Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged that the situation remained "extremely difficult" on the spot for the Ukrainian forces. .

Information to remember: 

  • Lyssychansk, the last major Donbass city still under Ukrainian control, is said to have been surrounded by pro-Russian separatists

  • Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow on Saturday of using "deliberate terror" after new airstrikes on Ukrainian soil

  • In Ukraine, nearly 2610 localities are currently under Russian occupation

"Deliberate Terror"

“Enemy activity in the Kharkiv region is intensifying,” the Ukrainian president said on Saturday evening.

Igor Konashenkov, the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman, said the Russian Air Force struck the local tractor factory in Kharkiv housing Ukrainian troops and military equipment.

In general, said Igor Konashenkov, "the enemy suffered heavy losses on all fronts".

On the southern front, according to Igor Konashenkov, the Russian army hit with artillery fire or airstrikes 39 command centers and two ammunition depots near Mykolaiv.

"Around 4:30 a.m. the Russians started firing rockets at the city. As a result of this attack, industrial sites were damaged," said the city's mayor, Oleksandr Senkevich, in a message on Telegram, specifying that "the majority of the missiles fell in the suburbs" with a photo of damage appearing quite light.

Friday evening, Volodymyr Zelensky accused Moscow of using "deliberate [...] terror", after strikes on Serguiïvka, at the edge of the Black Sea on "a large building" and "a tourist complex".

The locality is about 80 km southwest of Odessa in southern Ukraine.

According to Ukrainian military and civil authorities, at least 21 people were killed, including a 12-year-old boy, and 38 were injured, including five children.

Minsk threatens

In neighboring Belarus, President Alexander Lukashenko said that "about three days ago, maybe more, we tried from Ukraine to hit military targets in Belarus".

“Praise be to God, our Pantsir anti-aircraft systems intercepted all missiles fired by Ukrainian forces,” he added, fueling speculation of a growing involvement of this Moscow ally in the conflict with Ukraine. .

Since the Kremlin attack on Ukraine on February 24, Belarus has served as a rear base for Russian forces.

“We are being provoked,” he said, threatening to respond “instantly” to any enemy strike against the territory of Belarus”, a message visibly intended for kyiv and Westerners.

"Less than a month ago I gave the order to our armed forces to have in sight, as we say now, the decision-making centers in your capitals", he affirmed, referring to the missiles promised by Mr. Putin, as well as the Belarusian rocket launcher system Polonez.

2610 localities under Russian occupation

In his evening speech, Volodymyr Zelensky mentioned "2610" towns and villages "under Russian occupation".

But since the start of the war, on February 24, the Ukrainian army has "managed to free 1027", he assured.

"Hundreds have been completely destroyed by the Russian army, and must be completely rebuilt", he added, while the question of the reconstruction of the country will be at the heart of the Lugano Conference (Switzerland) on the Ukraine, Monday and Tuesday.

"It is not only necessary to rebuild everything that the occupiers destroyed, but also to lay new foundations for our life, for a safe, modern Ukraine (...), he said, aware of the " colossal investment" and the necessary "reforms".