The Ukrainian army announced on Sunday (19) that it had managed to halt Russian attacks near the eastern city of Severodonetsk, the scene of weeks of intense fighting in a war that NATO says could last for ‘years’.
“Our units managed to stop the attack in the Toshkyvka region,” the Ukrainian army said in a Facebook post. “The enemy has retreated,” the company added. Serguii Gaidai, governor of Lugansk, the region in which Severodonetsk is located, called the statements that Russia controls the entire town “lies”. “It’s true that they control most of the city, but not all of it,” he said.
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In Severodonetsk, more than 500 civilians, including 38 children, have holed up in a chemical plant to protect themselves from bombing, Gaidai reported, adding that the plant had been hit again by airstrikes in the past few hours. Attempts have been made to set up a humanitarian corridor for a few days, but without success. Russians and Ukrainians blame each other for failure of civilian evacuation operation.
From Moscow, the Russian Ministry of Defense announced that “the offensive against Severodonetsk is being carried out successfully.” “People’s militia units of the Lugansk People’s Republic, with the support of Russian forces, liberated the city of Metolkin,” the ministry reported southeast of Severodonetsk.
After Russia’s failed attempt to take Kyiv at the start of the offensive on February 24, Russia’s aim now appears to be to take full control of the Donbass, which includes the Lugansk and Donetsk regions. Since 2014, this region has been partially controlled by proRussian separatists backed by Moscow.
“There is no safe place,” the governor admitted in an interview with AFP from Lysychansk in the Lugansk region. The Russians “bomb our positions 24 hours a day,” he described. “There’s a saying: You have to prepare for the worst, and the best will come,” says Gaidai. “Of course we have to prepare,” reiterates the official, who fears the Russians are surrounding the city and blocking the roads that provide supplies.
Only 10% of a prewar population of around 100,000 still live in Lysychansk. And in the city, everything and everyone seems to be preparing for street fighting: soldiers dig holes and lay barbed wire; police set fire to cars to stop traffic; and many residents who were still there eventually chose to leave.
“We dropped everything and left. Nobody can survive such an attack,” laments history teacher Alla Bor.
The Ukrainian President is visiting cities that have often been targets of Russian attacks
“We will not give anyone the south”
On Sunday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his determination to continue resistance in the south after visiting the cities of Mykolaiv and Odessa on Saturday.
“We will not leave the South to anyone. We will win everything back. The sea will be Ukrainian and safe,” he promised in a video published on Telegram after returning to the country’s capital, Kyiv. “They are confident and when you look into their eyes it is obvious that they have no doubts about their victory,” added Zelenskyy, referring to his squad.
“The casualties are significant, many houses have been destroyed, civilian logistics have been affected and there are many social problems,” Zelenskyy admitted. “I have asked for more support to be given to people who have lost loved ones. We will rebuild everything that was destroyed. Russian missiles are smaller than our people’s will to live,” he said.
Mykolaiv had half a million prewar residents and is still under Ukrainian control, but it is close to Kherson, a region virtually occupied by the Russians.
It is also on the road to Odessa, Ukraine’s largest port. The latter is also under Ukrainian control and is at the center of negotiations as millions of tons of Ukrainian grain are blocked there. Russia, which controls this part of the Black Sea, argues that the water is mined.
However, Zelenskyy’s optimism differs from the gloomy picture painted by the Secretary General of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO), Jens Stoltenberg. In an interview with the German newspaper Bild published on Sunday, he estimated that the war could last “years” and that Western countries should therefore prepare for permanent support for Ukraine. “We have to be prepared for it to stay that way for years,” said Stoltenberg.
“We must not let up in our support for Ukraine, even if the costs are high, not only in terms of military support but also in the form of rising energy and food prices,” he added.
This week Russia reduced gas flow to Western Europe citing technical problems. In response, Germany announced emergency measures to secure its energy supply on Sunday. That means switching more to coal.
It’s a 180degree turnaround for the German coalition government, which includes environmentalists and has pledged to phase out the country’s use of coal by 2030. “It’s bitter, but it’s important to cut gas consumption,” Minister of Economy, environmentalist Robert Habeck, said in a statement.
Qatar announced that Italian group ENI will join French company TotalEnergies in the North Field East project, which aims to increase LNG production in the Gulf state by 60% by 2027.