Russian forces spent Saturday bombing Ukraine’s eastern Donbass region but have so far failed to capture several strategic locations, the Ukrainian military said.
The Russians failed to capture Lyman in Donetsk and Sievierodonetsk and Popasna in Luhansk. “No success – the fighting continues,” said a letter from the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces.
The Russians bombed the region, “but they cannot break through our defenses,” said Serhiy Gaidai, the governor of Luhansk. Two schools and 20 houses were leveled during the attack, he added.
Moscow military sources said 389 Ukrainian targets were hit by Russian artillery overnight.
The troubled Donbass region of Ukraine has long been home to separatists and large Russian-speaking populations. Russia began hostilities in Ukraine after recognizing two breakaway republics from the region.
An aerial view shows a crater and a destroyed house in the village of Yatskivka in eastern Ukraine. Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP via Getty Images
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said peace talks with Ukraine are continuing and that lifting Western sanctions against Russia is part of that discussion. He also accused the West of undermining its own peace efforts by continuing to send advanced military hardware to Ukraine.
“Progress has not been easy,” he told Chinese state television, blaming “the bellicose rhetoric and seditious actions of Western supporters of the Kiev regime.”
A destroyed house is pictured in the village of Yatskivka in eastern Ukraine.Photo by RONALDO SCHEMIDT/AFP via Getty Images
Lavrov said his country had evacuated over a million people from Ukraine since the war began, although he offered no evidence to support his claim.
President Biden has offered Ukraine a $33 billion aid package that includes $20 billion in weapons. The idea has received broad bipartisan support in Congress. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi urged her colleague to pass the law as soon as possible on Friday.
With post wires