As Russian troops intensified their attacks on eastern Ukrainian cities in the fourth month of their military operation, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky stressed that the situation on the ground, especially in Donbas and Kharkov, was very complicated.
He added in a video clip on his Facebook page on Sunday that the main goal is to supply weapons to his country, noting that Ukraine’s partners will provide military assistance early next week.
He said the situation in Donbass was complicated again and called on allies to protect freedom in his country.
Zelensky’s remarks came as the Russian Defense Ministry announced on Saturday that its forces and its allied separatist forces now have full control of the Lyman, a railway junction west of the Seversky Donets River in the Donetsk region on the Luhansk border.
But according to the ZNUA website, Hanna Malyar, Ukraine’s Deputy Defense Minister, said the battle for Lyman was continuing.
For his part, Mikhail Podolyak, an adviser to the Ukrainian president and negotiator, on Saturday again demanded the delivery of multiple US-made long-range missile launchers.
U.S. officials told Reuters that sending such systems was under serious consideration and would likely be decided in the coming days.
The Ukrainian military, meanwhile, said its forces had repelled eight attacks in Donetsk and Luhansk in the past 24 hours.
The British Defense Department said in a daily intelligence report that if Russia succeeded in taking control of the area, the Kremlin would likely consider it a “significant political achievement”.
Russia’s advance in the east followed a Ukrainian counterattack that forced the Russians to withdraw from Kharkov this month, but Moscow prevented Ukrainian forces from attacking the rear lines of the Russian supply line to Donbas. .
Last March, Moscow announced the start of the second phase of its military operation, which began on Ukrainian territory on February 24, to control the Donbas and open a ground corridor connecting the eastern regions of Crimea, which it annexed. in 2014
Source: Lebanon Debate
