The Defense Ministry in Moscow said on Saturday it had destroyed a significant Western arms shipment at Malyn with “high-precision, long-range maritime weapons”. Ukrainian authorities, on the other hand, spoke of damage to “civilian infrastructure”. The General Staff did not provide any information on the delivery of fired weapons.
In the eastern region of Donbass, after completely taking over the port city of Mariupol, Russian troops are now apparently trying to capture the last Ukrainian positions as well. In the Luhansk region, only the cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, separated by a river, are now controlled by Ukraine.
Ukrainian troop positions would be shelled with Russian artillery along the entire front line in the area, the General Staff in Kiev said on Sunday. Russian troops unsuccessfully tried to invade towns north, east and south of Sievjerodonetsk. The fighting was equally fierce for the villages south of the Lysychansk to Bakhmut route in the Donetsk region.
According to experts, Severodonetsk is in danger of being completely surrounded and besieged by Russian troops. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy spoke of “brutal and absolutely senseless” bombings and attacks on the civilian population, who sought refuge in basements and tunnels. The situation in Donbass is “extremely difficult” but the Ukrainian army is delaying the Russian offensive, Zelenskyy said in a video message late on Saturday.
However, the war can only end through diplomacy, the president continued: “There are things we can only achieve at the negotiating table.” At the same time, Zelenskyy demanded more arms deliveries and security guarantees for Western Ukraine.
The Russian Defense Ministry said nearly 40 targets had been attacked from the air in the last 24 hours, including five weapons depots in Donbass. In addition, more than 580 rocket and artillery targets were fired across the country.