The Star E-dition

Russia drives to cut off key towns in eastern Ukraine

RUSSIA launched a fresh assault before dawn yesterday on the easternmost Ukrainian-held city in the embattled Donbas region, threatening to close off the last main escape route for civilians trapped in the path of the advance.

After failing to seize Kyiv or Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, Russia is trying to take full control of the Donbas, comprised of two eastern provinces Moscow claims on behalf of separatists.

Russia has poured thousands of troops into the region, attacking from three sides in the hope of encircling Ukrainian forces holding out in the city of Sievierodonetsk on the east bank of the Siverskiy Donets River and its twin Lysychansk on the west bank.

Their fall would leave the whole of Luhansk region under Russian control, a key Kremlin war aim.

President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office said the Russians had launched an offensive on Sievierodonetsk and the town was under fire from mortars.

Luhansk regional governor Serhiy Gaidai said six civilians had been killed and at least eight wounded, most near bomb shelters, in Sievierodonetsk. The main road out was still being shelled, he said, but humanitarian aid was still getting in.

Russia is also targeting southern

Ukraine, where officials said shelling had killed a civilian and damaged scores of houses in Zaporozhzhia and missiles had destroyed an industrial facility in Kryviy Rih. Moscow has blockaded ships from southern Ukraine that would normally export Ukrainian grain and sunflower oil through the Black Sea, pushing up prices globally and threatening lives.

Russia has blamed Western sanctions for the food crisis. It said it was ready to provide a humanitarian corridor for vessels carrying food to leave Ukraine but sanctions would need to be lifted in return. Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Andrei Rudenko said Moscow “does not rule out the possibility of global talks to unblock Ukraine’s ports”.

Yesterday, President Vladimir Putin signed a decree simplifying the process for residents of newly captured districts to acquire Russian citizenship and passports. In a speech by video link to dignitaries at a global forum in Davos, Switzerland, Zelenskyy said the conflict could only be ended with direct talks between him and Putin.

Ukraine’s closest allies say they fear other Western countries might push Kyiv to give up land. The prime minister of Estonia said Ukraine should not be forced into compromises.

WORLD

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2022-05-26T07:00:00.0000000Z

2022-05-26T07:00:00.0000000Z

https://thestar.pressreader.com/article/281960316372567

African News Agency