Ukraine: Moscow attack in the west, war breaks out in Severodonetsk

Moscow said Sunday it had “destroyed a large warehouse” of weapons supplied by Westerners in western Ukraine, where war is raging in the main city of Chevroletonetsk, where the Ukrainian military is in great trouble.

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At the diplomatic level, European Commission President Ursula van der Leyen agreed after Kiev had promised the previous day that it would respond to Ukraine’s request to join the EU “by the end of next week.” “It will be challenging to come out of the Council of Europe (scheduled for June 23 and 24) with a united front that reflects the enormity of these historic decisions.”

At the military level, the Russian Defense Ministry in Tchortkiv, 140 km from the Romanian border, provided the Kiev regime with “large anti-tank missile systems, small air defense systems and large warehouses of shells. The United States and European countries”.

The Russian military did not say when the strike took place, but said it was carried out using naval missiles fired from the sea. , Was hit by “four missiles” on Saturday evening, injuring at least 22 people, including civilians, and partially destroying an army base.

In his evening video message on Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said, “Like most Russian strikes, there is no tactical or strategic interest in this strike. It is terrorism, not just terrorism.

In the east, the front line of the Russian offensive has been intensifying for several days. . “We continue to hold our positions,” he assured.

“The situation is difficult, especially in the city of Chevrodonetsk,” he said. But “despite the intense fire, we were able to stop the enemy”.

In the morning, the Ukrainian presidential office announced a “series of attacks and artillery bombings in the Severdonetsk and surrounding villages.”

The conquest of this city would open the way to another major city in Moscow, Gramadorsk, which would be a stage for the conquest of the entire Donbass Basin, which had been primarily occupied by pro-Russian separatists since 2014.

To Serguiï Gaïdaï, the Ukrainian governor of the region, the attackers wanted to “seal the whole city” and prevent the passage of people and ammunition. He said he feared in the telegram that the enemy would launch “all reserves to capture the city” within 48 hours.

On Saturday, Mr. Gaïdaï acknowledged that the Russians controlled “probably” 70% of the city, while Leonid Passetchnik, the leader of the pro-Russian separatist Lugansk, said he had stumbled under the control of the Severodonetsk “industrial zone”.

“It’s a chemical industry site,” Passetchnik said. “Our main goal is to eliminate the area (of Ukrainian militants) without causing environmental disaster.”

Valery Jaloshny also announced Russian shelling of “Kharkiv residential areas” (northeast) and “Ukrainian units” in “Chernihiv (east) and Sumi” (northeast). “We are responding,” he said, adding that “in some places, we have gone on the counter-attack”, without mentioning the relevant areas.

Further south, in the Donetsk region, the Ukrainian president said that “the Russians have intensified their efforts to destroy vital infrastructure.”

At the other end of the front line, in Mykolayiv, a large port on the southern Dnieper coast, Russian progress is parked on the outskirts of the city, according to a group of AFP journalists in the square.

There, the Ukrainian army dug trenches facing the Russians. “The Russians are nonsense. They are numerous, they have old and new weapons, but they are not soldiers,” assured Sergei, a 54-year-old captain of the Ukrainian regiment on Sunday, while his armed comrades fired into enemy positions.

According to Moscow, the Russian military shot down three Sukhoi Su-25 fighter jets between Saturday morning and Sunday morning, with two airstrikes and a third anti-aircraft fire.

On Saturday, Mr. Ms. Van der Leyen, who had just returned from Kiev to meet with Gelensky and Prime Minister Denis Kiegel, returned to Kiev to apply for EU membership.

“In 20 years, when we look back, I hope we can say we did the right thing,” he told reporters in Warsaw.

“Ukraine has done great things in the last 10 years and much remains to be done. Our opinion will reflect this carefully,” he said of the nomination of Ukraine.

“The path to the EU is well known,” he added. “It’s based on merit.”

Ukraine is demanding “legal commitment” that would allow it to soon obtain official EU candidate status, but the 27 member states are highly divided on the question.

“Our government has done everything,” he said. Overcame Zhelensky.