Once a day, NU.nl gives you an overview of the situation in Ukraine. This time: the battle for the strategically important city of Severodonetsk is intensifying. Ukrainian troops forced the Russians to withdraw for the first time in a long time on Saturday. Ukraine is also furious with French President Emmanuel Macron and is still waiting for his visit.
The Russians have been capturing the strategic city of Severodonetsk for weeks and have already taken a good part, but on Saturday they were pushed back for the first time by the Ukrainian army. Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai says one-fifth of the city has been reclaimed. “Once we have enough western long-range weapons, we can completely recapture the city. Believe me, the Russian infantry will flee.”
The surrounded city has been shelled for days and fierce fighting takes place there. The Russians are eager to capture Severodonetsk, because then all they need to do is take the neighboring city of Lysychansk to control the entire Luhansk region. Then Russia can focus on other regions in Ukraine that are important to Moscow, such as Donetsk. Russia says it is not too bad with the losses in the city. The Russian authorities announced soon after the Ukrainian reports that Ukraine had suffered significant losses and is withdrawing from Severodonetsk.
War experts have been talking about Severodonetsk for days. Both Russia and Ukraine are now concentrating on that city. Should Ukraine be able to completely recapture the city, it will be a major victory for the Ukrainian army. Experts expect that it could even have a major effect on the outcome of the war.
Fierce fighting in the important city of Severodonetsk
Fierce fighting in the important city of Severodonetsk Photo: AFP
Heavy fighting in other parts of Ukraine too
Heavy fighting is not only going on in Severodonetsk, but also in other parts of Ukraine there are reports of shelling and bombing. For example, there are reports of serious shelling in the northern regions of Sumy and Chernihiv.
Russian troops meanwhile also continue to fire on Ukrainian positions in the Kharkiv region, in the northeast. Further south, in the Zaporizhzhia region, reports of rocket attacks are coming in.
Earlier on Saturday, the mayor of the southern city of Mykolaiv reported that three civilians were killed in Russian attacks. Four were also seriously injured. Large apartment buildings came under fire and were severely damaged.
Oldest wooden church goes up in flames
Russian troops bombed the oldest surviving wooden church in Ukraine on Saturday. The building has gone up in flames, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky reported.
It concerns the All Saints Church, which was built in the early seventeenth century. The church has been destroyed and rebuilt several times since then. The last time was in 2009. The church is part of the Svyatohirsk Lavra Monastery in the eastern Donetsk region. It is close to the front in eastern Ukraine where there is heavy fighting.
Video footage shows the wooden church on fire. According to Zelensky, the Russians bombarded the church with rockets and then withdrew. The Russian Defense Ministry denies that. Russia says that Ukraine set the church on fire. It is not yet known whether there have been any casualties.
Peace negotiations only if situation changes
According to a top adviser to Ukrainian President Zelensky, the battle between his country and Russia will continue for about two to six months. He said peace negotiations would only take place if the situation changed and “Russia no longer feels that it can dictate terms”. He warned that yielding to Russia will not end the war. Some cities, such as Mariupol and now Severodonetsk, where the heaviest fighting takes place, actually no longer exist, he said.
The negotiation process between Ukrainian and Russian representatives has stalled. Moscow said Friday it does not intend to end the “military operation” until all goals are met. According to the Kremlin, results have already been achieved with the occupation of part of the country.
Putin: ‘Our air defenses break Ukraine’s weapons like nuts’
Vladimir Putin is pleased with Russia’s anti-aircraft weapons. He states in a TV interview that the Russian defenses are working excellently and that the “Ukrainian weapons are being demolished like nuts”.
“We can handle everything well and we have already destroyed dozens of weapons of the enemy.” Putin was talking about warplanes and war missiles from Ukraine. “Again, we’ll break them like nuts.”
A woman sits in a destroyed bus stop in Mariupol
A woman sits in a destroyed bus stop in Mariupol Photo: AFP
Ukraine furious at Macron’s call not to humiliate Russia
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba has little to say about French President Emmanuel Macron’s call not to “humiliate” Russia. He said this position can only “humiliate France”.
According to him, this also applies to other countries that think so and express that opinion. “Because it is Russia that is humiliating itself. We better all focus on how to put Russia back in its place. That will bring peace and save lives,” Kuleba said.
Macron had again warned against a disparaging treatment of Russia. This would only complicate diplomatic negotiations after the end of the war. The French president is one of the few Western leaders to try to keep the dialogue with Putin going. He has also not yet visited Kyiv, but does not rule out the possibility that he will this month.
Poland has already received almost 4 million Ukrainian refugees
Since the beginning of the war, the Polish Border Guard has registered more than 3.8 million refugees from the neighboring country. More than 22,000 people crossed the Ukrainian-Polish border on Friday, the Polish border guard announced.
In the opposite direction, more than 25,000 people crossed the border from Poland to Ukraine that same day. For the past few weeks, there have been more returnees than new arrivals on a daily basis. In total, about 1.8 million people have traveled from Poland to Ukraine since the start of the war on February 24. According to the authorities, these are largely Ukrainian citizens.
They usually travel to areas that the Ukrainian army has recaptured from Russia. There is no official information on how many war refugees have remained in Poland and how many have moved on to other EU countries. Ukraine had more than 44 million inhabitants before the Russian invasion on February 24. Poland and Ukraine are connected by a border over 500 kilometers long.
A Ukrainian refugee with her child crosses the border into Poland.
A Ukrainian refugee with her child crosses the border into Poland. Photo: AFP