Ukraine ignored a Russian ultimatum to hand over the eastern city of Severodonetsk on Wednesday, as North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) defense ministers met in Brussels to discuss sending more heavy weapons. to replenish Kiev’s dwindling stocks.
Russia had told Ukrainian forces hiding at a chemical factory in the city to stop the “senseless resistance and lay down arms” from Wednesday morning, further pressure in the battle for control of eastern Ukraine.
Plans announced by Moscow to open a humanitarian corridor for civilians trapped in the factory were interrupted by Ukrainian bombing, Russian-backed separatists said, according to the RIA news agency. The separatists planned to take civilians into territory under their own control.
Ukraine said more than 500 civilians were trapped along with soldiers inside the Azot chemical plant, where its forces have been resisting Russian bombing for weeks that has reduced much of Severodonetsk to ruins.
The mayor of the city, Oleksandr Stryuk, pointed out after the deadline in the morning that Russian forces were trying to invade the municipality from various directions, but the Ukrainian army continues to defend it.
“We are trying to push the enemy into the center of the city,” he said on television, without referring to the ultimatum. “This is an ongoing situation with partial successes and tactical retreats. Escape routes are dangerous, but there are some,” he added.
Serhiy Gaidai, governor of the Luhansk region, where Severodonetsk is situated, said the army was defending the city and keeping Russian forces out of Lysychansk, the Ukrainian-controlled twin city on the opposite bank of the Siversky Donets River.
“However, the Russians are close and the population is suffering and the houses are being destroyed,” Gaidai said shortly before the deadline given by Russia.
Luhansk is one of two eastern provinces that Moscow claims on behalf of separatist representatives. Together they form Donbass, a Ukrainian industrial region where Russia has focused its attack after failing to conquer Ukraine’s capital Kiev in March.
British intelligence reported that the chemical plant’s fighters could survive underground and that Russian forces would likely remain focused on them.
But Ukrainian forces on the eastern front were exhausted and outnumbered, said British Defense Minister Ben Wallace.
Reuters could not immediately verify the battlefield reports.
Source: CNN Brasil
I’m James Harper, a highly experienced and accomplished news writer for World Stock Market. I have been writing in the Politics section of the website for over five years, providing readers with up-to-date and insightful information about current events in politics. My work is widely read and respected by many industry professionals as well as laymen.
