“The situation remains difficult,” said Serhiy Haidai, governor of the Luhansk region. “Fighting continues, but unfortunately, most of the city is under Russian control. “Some position battles are taking place in the streets.”
The occupation of Luhansk, which forms Donbass along with the neighboring Donetsk region, has been Russia’s primary target since its forces were repulsed from the capital, Kiev.
The ongoing battle for Sheverodonetsk, the last unoccupied city in Luhansk, has become increasingly bloody in recent days.
A damaged building is pictured in Lysychansk as black smoke and dirt rise from the nearby town of Severodonetsk.AFP via Getty Images
“Ukrainian forces are fighting there” for every house and every street, “Haidai said.
But there were reports that up to 400 Ukrainian soldiers and 500 civilians trapped in the Azot chemical plant were surrounded by invading troops, calling the rumors “lies spread by Russian propagandists.”
Analysts at the British Ministry of Defense said that Russian troops had failed to advance south of Sheverodonetsk, adding that “both sides are likely to have a large number of casualties”.
Civilians evacuate Slovyansk on June 9, 2022. AFP via Getty Images
In Kyiv, President Volodymyr Zelensky promised that his country “will surely prevail in this war that Russia has started.”
Speaking from a distance to delegates at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, Zelensky said a halt to Russian aggression was necessary to protect the international order.
“It is on the battlefields of Ukraine that the future rules of this world are decided, along with the limits of what is possible,” he said.
Car wreckage sits along a road during heavy fighting on the front line at Severodonetsk.AP
In other developments on Saturday:
Ukraine’s presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych said about 10,000 of her soldiers had been killed in the first 100 days after the Russian invasion began on February 24, the BBC reported. European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen met with Zelensky in Kyiv to continue talks on Ukraine’s bid to join the European Union. He will decide whether to nominate Ukraine as a candidate next week, he said. Russia issued its first passports to residents of the occupied cities of Melitopolis and Hersonissos, handing out 23 of the documents as part of its ongoing effort to “Russianize” there.
The Ukrainian Prosecutor General’s Office has issued new estimates for the ongoing massacre of civilians, the Kyiv Independent reported, noting that at least 287 children have been killed and 492 wounded in the war – noting that the numbers are expected to rise as fighting continues. Russia, meanwhile, has vowed to tackle the accumulation of NATO forces in Poland with “proportionate” measures. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was photographed making a statement on Saturday. AFP via Getty Images “A response, as always, will be proportionate and appropriate, in order to eliminate potential threats to the security of the Russian Federation,” said Oleg Tyapkin, a Russian Foreign Ministry official.
