Ukraine forces ‘holding positions’ in Sievierodonetsk — live updates

• Fighting remains fierce in key city of Sievierodonetsk
• Ukrainian forces ‘not giving up positions,’ Zelenskyy says
• US backs claims Russia is ‘pilfering’ Ukrainian grain

This article was last updated 23:10 UTC/GMT

Ukrainian troops ‘holding positions’ in Sievierodonetsk

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said his troops are not giving up positions in Sievierodonetsk.

Ukrainian and Russian troops are fighting street by street for control of the key industrial city.

“Our heroes do not give up positions in Sievierodonetsk. In the city, fierce street fighting continues,” Zelenskiy said in his nightly video address on Monday.

“And the Ukrainian Donbas [where Sievierodonetsk is located] stands, stands strong,” Zelenskyy said.

The city has become the main target of the Russian offensive in the Donbas.

Ukraine’s President Zelenskyy visiting troops in Lysychansk, just a few kilometres from Sievierodonetsk

DW reporter: Ukrainian forces ‘outgunned’

DW’s Nick Connolly has said that Ukraine’s army has suffered setbacks recently, mainly because “Western weapon deliveries that Ukraine has been asking for with ever greater intensity … are not getting there as fast Ukraine needs them to.”

In his nightly address, President Zelenskyy also thanked the UK for announcing it would join the US in sending multiple-launch rocket systems.

Connolly noted though, that it would still take weeks for the weapons to arrive and for troops to be trained in them.

“We’re getting reports that Ukrainian commanders are having to think twice before using shells because they don’t have the depth of ammunition that the Russians have.” 

DW has not been able to confirm how much of Sievierodonetsk Ukraine still controls. Nick Connolly said the latest reports suggest they only control “one industrial area on the edge of town.”

US: ‘Credible’ reports Russia is ‘pilfering’ Ukrainian grain 

US Secretary of State Antony Blinken has backed claims that Russia has stolen grain from Ukraine in order to sell it on.

“There are credible reports… that Russia is pilfering Ukraine’s grain exports to sell for its own profit,” Blinken said at a State Department conference on food security issues.

Blinken also accused Russian forces of planting explosives in captured farmland.

He blamed Russian President Vladimir Putin for “aggressively using his propaganda machine to deflect or distort responsibility because he hopes it will get the world to give in to him and then the sanctions. In other words, quite simply put: It’s blackmail.”

What happened in Russia’s war on Ukraine on Monday

Luhansk’s regional governor Serhiy Haidai said fierce fighting continued in Sievierodonetsk. He described the combat situation as “quite dynamic.” He said the shelling of Sievierodonetsk had intensified, with the Russians “destroying everything in line with their scorched-earth tactics.”

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that, although Russian forces have a numerical advantage in the battle for the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk, Ukraine’s forces were still capable of fighting back.

The UK said it will provide Ukraine with M270 multiple-launch rocket systems capable of hitting targets as far away as 80 kilometers (50 miles).

Roman Starovoit, governor of Kursk Oblast, claimed that the village of Tyotkino near the Ukrainian border came under fire early on Monday morning. He said that a few local businesses and a bridge had been hit.

Russia imposed personal sanctions on another 61 US officials, including Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Energy Secretary Jennifer Granholm as well as leading defense and media executives. 

Germany’s government minister for culture and the media, Claudia Roth of the Greens, has arrived in Odesa for a two-day visit. She’s the first German government official to visit the city and she intends to remain there overnight. 

You can revisit our live updates from June 6 here.

sdi/rt (Reuters, AFP, AP)

Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/ukraine-forces-holding-positions-in-sievierodonetsk-live-updates/a-62047208?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf