KIEV, Ukraine (Reuters) –On Saturday, Russian soldiers bombarded Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region but failed to take three target sites, Ukraine military reported, while Moscow claimed that Western sanctions against Russia and weaponry supplies to Ukraine were hampering peace efforts.
The Russians were attempting to seize the districts of Lyman in Donetsk, Sievierodonetsk, and Popasna in Luhansk, according to a daily briefing from Ukraine’s Armed Forces General Staff. “Failure—the struggle continues,” it said.
The Russian foreign minister said that removing Western sanctions on Russia was part of the peace talks, which he said were hard but going on every day via video link.
Since the Russian invasion started on February 24, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has emphasized that sanctions must be reinforced and cannot be included in discussions. He warned on Friday that the negotiations faced a significant danger of failure due to Russia’s “playbook for killing people.”
Ukraine accuses Russian forces of crimes in previously seized territories around the capital, Kyiv. Moscow refutes the allegations.
If the US and other NATO members are sincerely interested in settling the Ukrainian situation, they should halt their arms deliveries to Kyiv.
President Joe Biden’s planned $33 billion assistance package for Ukraine, which includes $20 billion for weaponry, has bipartisan backing in Washington. Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi expressed optimism on Friday that Congress would enact the package as quickly as possible.
‘CAN NOT PASS’
After failing to conquer Kyiv after a nine-week assault that reduced towns to ruins, killed hundreds, and prompted 5 million Ukrainians to escape abroad, Russia is now concentrating its efforts on Ukraine’s east and south.
Moscow intends to seize complete control of the eastern Donbas area, which includes Luhansk and Donetsk and was already under the authority of Russian-backed rebels before the assault.
On Saturday, Moscow said that its artillery forces had targeted 389 targets in Ukraine overnight.
Serhiy Gaidai, Luhansk’s governor, told Ukrainian state media that the Russians were pounding the area “but they cannot penetrate our defence.” He said that despite the terrible circumstances, people would continue to be evacuated.
Gaidai said that Russian strikes on Friday damaged two schools and 20 homes in Rubizhne and Popasna, both in Luhansk.
Mykola Khanatov, commander of Popasna’s military administration, claimed two buses meant to evacuate residents were fired on by Russian forces on Friday, and the drivers have not been heard from. He did not specify the number of passengers aboard the buses.
Additionally, there were reports of strikes on locations outside the Donbass.
The Russian military bombarded the outskirts of Velyka Kostromka in the Kryvyi Rih area, according to Mykola Lukashuk, president of the Dnipro regional council. A town on the Zaporizhzhia region’s southwestern border was also bombarded. Unverified social media accounts indicated bombardment in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s northeastern metropolis.
Reuters couldn’t independently check either side’s claims about what was going on on the ground.
RESISTANCE TO MARIUPOL
Ukraine’s border guard agency shared a video on its Facebook (NASDAQ: FB) page of around 16 weary-looking troops in war fatigues, most of whom were helmeted and wielding weapons, performing the national anthem in a tiny basement chamber. One of them was a lady carrying a dog.
According to the military, the fighters were border guards assisting in the defence of the Azovstal steel complex, the final bastion of Ukrainian troops defending the important port city of Mariupol on the Azov Sea from Russian invaders.
Reuters was unable to independently authenticate the footage.
Moscow says the conflict is a “special military operation” that aims to disarm and “denazify” Ukraine, protect Russian-speaking people from persecution, and stop the US from using Ukraine to threaten Russia.
Ukraine rejects Putin’s allegations of persecution and asserts that he is engaged in an unprovoked land grab to entirely take Donetsk and Luhansk, the Donbas region’s two largest cities.
Western authorities said that although Russia had incurred fewer losses as a result of reducing the scope of its invasion, the toll remained “very high.”
“Shortcomings in Russian tactical coordination persist,” the British military ministry said on Saturday. In a daily briefing, Russiasaid it was compelled to consolidate and redeploy depleted and dispersed troops after unsuccessful advances in northeastern Ukraine.
