Kyiv admits it is suffering ‘more and more’ in Donbas

LAST UPDATE: 09.53

The situation is becoming “increasingly difficult” for Ukrainians in Donbassin the eastern part of the country, where Russian troops are bombing Severodonetsk “24 hours a day”.

Moscow continues to increase its firepower at Donbass. They are there, according to Serhiy Haidai, its governor Luganskunits withdrawn from its area Kharkov (northeast), forces that took part in its siege Mariupol (southeast), the paramilitary units of the pro-Russian separatists of the regions Donetsk and LuganskChechen troops and units that came to reinforce those developed from Siberia and the Russian Far East.

“All Russian forces have been concentrated in the regions Lugansk and Donetsk“Everything is concentrated here,” the governor insisted, including the S-300 and S-400 anti-aircraft and anti-missile defense systems of the US Patriots.

Critical stake in the battle for Donbassthe city Severodonetskin its periphery Luganskbombed by Russian troops “24 hours a day”, Mr. Haidai insisted indignantly.

“They are using the tactics of scorched earth, deliberately destroying the city” with airstrikes, multiple rocket launchers and tanks, targeting both military infrastructure and homes, he added.

The Ukrainian military announced on Sunday that at least seven civilians had been killed and eight others wounded in bombings in 45 communities in the region. Donetsk.

Her luck Severodonetsk may be similar to hers Mariupol, where the image today according to the Ukrainians refers to Apocalypse after weeks of siege. Many neighborhoods have been reduced to rubble.

Hundreds of thousands of residents fled. Others are dead. The report is unknown so far, but without a doubt very heavy.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is expected to address a video conference at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos today, which will be broadcast live for the first time in two years due to the pandemic. He is expected to call for more assistance, both financial and military, and to refer to Kiev’s bid to join the EU.

Although the Ukrainian head of state will address the participants via video conference, several Ukrainian officials will be present, such as Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba or Kiev Mayor Vitali Klitschko. The Russians are again excluded from the WEF. The Russian pavilion will be replaced in the Forum with a pavilion “for Russia’s war crimes”, where various support events will be organized in Kyiv, with the participation of Ukrainian personalities.

Russian troops try to break through Ukrainian forces’ defensive lines and reach the administrative border of the eastern region Luhanskreported earlier the Ukrainian army, according to the BBC.

The Russians have focused their efforts on the city Severodonetskcharacteristically stated the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

He added that the “enemy” has intensified the use of its aircraft in order to destroy critical infrastructure of Ukraine in the area of ​​active military operations.

Ukrainian forces have repulsed 11 enemy attacks in the east in the last 24 hours, he added.

Rocket attack in the Zhytomyr region

Meanwhile, at least one person was killed Sunday in a Russian rocket attack in Malin, in the Zhytomyr region, west of Kiev, according to the Ukrainian army. The Ukrainian Air Force said in a statement that Russian forces had fired “cruise missiles” from the southeast at infrastructure facilities in Zhytomyr. The center added that the country’s air defense units destroyed four Russian cruise missiles – all three were destroyed by aircraft, one by an anti-aircraft missile.

Russians bomb 3 settlements in Kryvyi Rih, says regional official

Russian forces have bombed three settlements in the Kryvyi Rih region, the head of the Dnipropetrovsk regional council, Mykola Lukashuk, said on Sunday.

Lukashuk told the Telegram that “ten shells hit the village of Maryanske and two more hit the Apostolove community.”

He also reported that a Russian rocket had fallen into the Samara River in the Pavlograd region. According to Lukashuk, there were no casualties.

“Other areas of Dnipropetrovsk region were not attacked today. There are no Russian occupation troops in the area,” he said.

Britain: Russia’s death toll is similar to that of the conflict in Afghanistan

In the latest update, the UK Department of Defense said that during the first three months of the war, Russia may have suffered a similar death toll to that of the Soviet Union during its nine-year war in Afghanistan.

The high rate of casualties – observed in the Donbas attack – can be explained by a combination of poor tactics, limited air cover and lack of flexibility.

The Ministry of Defense predicts that these losses, as they continue to increase, will become more apparent to the Russian public and “public dissatisfaction with the war and the willingness to express it may increase.”

This is a sharp reference. The Soviet Union lost at least 15,000 troops in the conflict in Afghanistan trying to support a communist government. The war ended in a bloody stalemate and is considered a factor in the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Moscow ready to resume talks – “We are not ready for negotiations yet” says Zelensky

Russian negotiator Vladimir Medinsky said yesterday that Moscow was ready to resume peace talks with Ukraine, blaming Kyiv for suspending them.

“For our part, we are ready to continue the dialogue,” said Medinsky, a Kremlin adviser who has been tasked with negotiating with Ukraine, in an interview with Belarus Public Television.

“The freezing of the talks took place exclusively on the initiative of Ukraine,” he added, adding that now “the ball is in their court.”

“Russia has never refused to negotiate,” he said.

Negotiations began after Russian forces entered Ukraine on February 24 but were unable to quickly occupy the capital. The two countries’ foreign ministers met in Turkey in March, after which delegations held talks in Istanbul, but without success.

Ukrainian negotiator Mikhail Pontolyak said last Tuesday that talks were “suspended” as Russia redeployed its forces and now focused its “special operation”, as it calls the war, on eastern Ukraine.

Meanwhile, according to the Italian newspaper Corriere della Sera, in a telephone conversation with Mario Draghi last night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that “his country is not yet ready for a real peace process.”

“We will be able to discuss it only when we recapture the territories that Russia has taken away from us since the beginning of the war,” Zelenski added, according to the Milan newspaper.

“I hope Italy continues to support us, with the defense systems we need for our liberation struggle,” Zeleski said.

According to “Corriere”, the Ukrainian president asked Mario Draghi to help his country join the European Union “despite the resistance of some members of the Union, starting from Berlin”.