The war in Ukraine lasts 101 days. Russia is trying to gain territory in the south and east with heavy shelling and continues to meet bitter resistance, especially in the region around Sievjerodonetsk. Meanwhile, Kyiv is rejecting current negotiations - and is reporting a dead German fighter for the first time.
The war in Ukraine lasts 101 days. Russia is trying to gain territory in the south and east with heavy shelling and continues to meet bitter resistance, especially in the region around Sievjerodonetsk. Meanwhile, Kyiv is rejecting current negotiations - and is reporting a dead German fighter for the first time.
According to Ukrainian sources, the armed forces of Ukraine have achieved small successes in the defense of the strategically important city of Sieverodonetsk in the east of the country. Russia is throwing its "whole weight and its reserves" into the battle for the city, said the governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Gajday. However, the Ukrainian forces "are now pushing them back". Meanwhile, a Ukrainian volunteer brigade reported the death of a German fighter in its ranks.
Bitter street fighting in Sieverodonetsk
Fierce fighting continues for Sievjerodonetsk in eastern Ukraine. Russia is strengthening its troops around the industrial city, the Ukrainian general staff said. Artillery was used in the attacks. Ukrainian units continued to hold their positions in the city and pushed back Russian soldiers in several places, the governor of eastern Ukraine's Luhansk region, Serhiy Gaidai, said on TV. Russian soldiers blew up bridges in Sieverodonetsk to prevent military equipment and aid to civilians from being brought into the city.
About a fifth of the city's territory lost to the Russian army is back under Ukrainian control. The information cannot be independently verified. Governor Gaidai also said on Ukrainian television that it was not realistic that Sieverodonetsk would fall in the next two weeks. "Once we have enough western long-range weapons, we'll push their artillery away from our positions. And then, believe me, the Russian infantry, they'll just run."
In Sloviansk, 80 kilometers from Sievjerodonetsk, the mayor called on residents on Friday to leave their homes in the face of heavy bombardment. Water and electricity have collapsed in the city. Fighting was also reported by the Ukrainian authorities from southern Ukraine in the Cherson region on Saturday, as well as a Russian rocket attack in the port of Odessa.
London: Heavy shelling by Russia
According to British military intelligence, the Russian military is maintaining high levels of artillery and airstrikes in eastern Ukraine. "The increased use of unguided munitions has resulted in the widespread destruction of built-up areas in Donbass and has almost certainly caused significant collateral damage and civilian casualties," the defense ministry wrote on Twitter, referring to the regular intelligence report. Russia has increased its tactical airstrikes to support the slow advance. Combat aircraft and artillery would be used.
Ukraine: First military successes - then negotiations
Ukraine will not agree to talks with Russia again until it has gained ground in the war. "Until we have strengthened our position and the Russian troops have not been pushed back as far as possible, negotiations make no sense," said presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak. Ukrainian negotiator David Arachamia made a similar statement. "Our army is ready to use the new weapons and then we can start a new round of talks from a strengthened position," he said.
Talks between Ukrainian and Russian negotiators have so far yielded no results. In the fight against Russian forces, Ukraine is receiving more and more military support from the US and EU countries. For example, the US promised Ukraine advanced missile systems such as the M142 High Mobility Artillery Rocket (HIMARS) with a longer range.
Macron: Don't humiliate Russia
French President Emmanuel Macron has once again drawn the Ukrainian government's displeasure. In an interview with several regional newspapers, he said that France would play a mediating role. "We must not humiliate Russia so that the day the fighting stops, we can use diplomatic means to build a launch pad." Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba tweeted that such statements could only humiliate France or any other country that demands such a thing. "Russia is humiliating itself. We had better focus on putting Russia in its place. That will bring peace and protect lives."
Macron has been in regular talks with Russian President Vladimir Putin since the beginning of the Russian invasion to secure a ceasefire and start credible negotiations between the governments in Kyiv and in Moscow.
Moscow: Ukraine withdraws units - missile hits training center
Meanwhile, Russia reported the withdrawal of Ukrainian soldiers from Sievjerodonetsk. "Some units of the Ukrainian army, which suffered heavy casualties (in some units up to 90 percent) in the fighting for Sieverodonetsk, are retreating towards Lysychansk," the Defense Ministry said in Moscow. The information could not initially be independently verified.
Meanwhile, the Russian Defense Ministry said Russian forces had hit an "operational site for foreign mercenaries" in the village of Datschne near Odessa. In the Sumy region in the northeast of the country, a Russian missile attack also hit a "training center" where Ukrainian soldiers were being trained by foreign instructors on M777 howitzers.
Ukraine and Russia swap bodies of soldiers
According to information from Kyiv, Ukraine and Russia have each handed over 160 bodies of killed fighters from the other side. The exchange took place on June 2 along the front line in the Zaporizhia region, the Ukrainian Ministry for the Reintegration of Temporarily Occupied Territories said. Ukraine has repeatedly called on Russia to accept the dead soldiers and accused the leadership in Moscow of treating its own armed forces like cannon fodder and not caring about a dignified burial.
Ukrainian secret services and the General Staff of the Armed Forces as well as other security structures were involved in the exchange, it said. According to Ukrainian information, negotiations on the exchange of prisoners of war are still ongoing on both sides. Thousands of Ukrainian fighters are in Russian violence, including the defenders of Mariupol, who held the fort there at the Azovstal steelworks until Kyiv ceded the city in May.
German fighter killed
According to a volunteer brigade called the International Defense Legion of Ukraine, four foreign volunteers who fought on Ukraine's side have died. In addition to the German, three men from the Netherlands, France and Australia were killed. The volunteer brigade did not provide any information about the circumstances of death or the location. It was initially unclear where the German and the Australian were killed, the Frenchman and the Dutchman apparently died near Kharkiv in the north-east.
Shortly after the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine began, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy announced the formation of an international brigade of volunteers at the end of February. According to Ukrainian information, around 20,000 volunteers from all over the world then volunteered.
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