C T Online Desk: Russian forces edged closer Wednesday to taking the key eastern Ukraine city of Severodonetsk but Kyiv’s hopes of holding off their invaders were boosted by a US pledge of more advanced rocket systems to help their defence.
The Russians had taken control of 70 percent of the key industrial hub, with Ukrainian forces withdrawing to prepared positions, Lugansk region governor Sergiy Gaiday said.
“If in two or three days, the Russians take control of Severodonetsk, they will install artillery and mortars and will bombard more intensely Lysychansk,” the Ukrainian-held city across the river, he said on Telegram.
Ukraine successfully stopped Russia from seizing Kyiv after its February 24 invasion but the campaign in the east has had a high cost, with President Volodymyr Zelensky saying that 60 to 100 soldiers were dying each day.
“The situation in the east is very difficult,” Zelensky told US newsgroup Newsmax.
With only Lysychansk remaining a pocket of resistance in the eastern Lugansk region, Severodonetsk has become a target of massive Russian firepower.
Oleksander Motuzianyk, spokesman for Ukraine’s defence ministry, said there was fighting in the streets in Severodonetsk and the Russians had reached the city centre.
“The Ukrainian armed forces are actively resisting them,” he said.
In a boost for the outgunned Ukrainian military, President Joe Biden confirmed that longer-range weapons were on the way.
The new weapon is the Himars multiple launch rocket system, or MLRS, a mobile unit that can simultaneously launch multiple precision-guided missiles up to 80 kilometres (50 miles) away.
They are the centrepiece of a $700 million package unveiled Wednesday that also includes air-surveillance radar, more Javelin short-range anti-tank rockets, artillery ammunition, helicopters, vehicles and spare parts.
– ‘Fuel to the fire’ –
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Washington of “adding fuel to the fire”, saying that the weapons would not encourage Kyiv to resume peace talks.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said that Ukraine had promised not to strike into Russia — and dismissed suggestions that Washington was to blame for escalating with Russian President Vladimir Putin.
“Simply put, the best way to avoid escalation is for Russia to stop the aggression and the war that it started,” Blinken told reporters.
He promised that the United States would keep assisting Ukraine, saying there were no signs of Russia pulling back.
