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Ukraine says it still controls Sievierodonetsk plant sheltering hundreds of civilians

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A military strike was launched on Sievierodonetsk’s Azot Chemical Plant. This occurred amid Russia’s aggression on Ukraine. It took place in Lysychansk (Luhansk Region, Ukraine), June 10, 2022.

Oleksandr Ratushniak | Reuters

In Sievierodonetsk there was bitter fighting, but the governor of the region said that Ukraine retained control over an area of the city and a chemical plant. This is where hundreds of civilians have fled the incessant Russian bombardment.

An unidentified separatist group supported by Russia claimed Saturday that between 300 and 400 Ukrainian soldiers were held at Azot.

Serhiy Gaidai had earlier acknowledged that Russian forces controlled the majority of Luhansk’s small town. She also stated that Russian bombing at the plant was what started a huge fire from an oil leak. The fire may still be burning Sunday, it was unclear.

Russian media reports that a massive cloud of smoke was visible in Donetsk, a neighboring province, after an explosion at Avdiivka (which houses another chemical factory) caused by the blast.

Sievierodonetsk is the center of eastern Ukraine’s battle to control the Donbas industrialized region. This area includes the Luhansk-Donetsk regions. The fighting has ravaged parts of the city, and it’s been the most bloody since Moscow invaded the country on February 24th.

Moscow had to scale back its original campaign goals of withdrawing troops who were menacing Kyiv. Moscow then turned to expanding control within the Donbas. Pro-Russian separatists now hold large swathes of territory in this region since 2014.

Putin refers to the invasion as “special military operations” that aims at disarming and “denazifying” Ukraine. It is a war of aggression unprovoked to seize territory, according to Kyiv and allies.

According to Ukraine, 800 people are hiding under bomb shelters at Azot plants. This includes employees as well as residents of the city.

Russian troops have used heavy artillery and missile attacks to subdue the city of Sievierodonetsk in eastern Russia.

Getty Images| Lightrocket | Getty Images

Gaidai, a Telegram messenger app user on Sunday said that “no one can tell whether or how many victims have been in Sievierodonetsk in the last 24hrs,”

“Yes. People have been continuously in the shelters but the Russians fire on residential areas for hours at time using large-caliber gunfire,” he stated. Although everyone wants to leave now, most people don’t have the means.

In Lysychansk — Sievierodonetsk’s twin city across the Donets River — a woman was killed in Russian shelling while four houses and a shopping center were destroyed.

According to the daily updates from Ukraine’s General Staff, Russian forces fired mortars and artillery towards a variety of settlements in the southwest and south of Sievierodonetsk.

It said that Ukrainian forces were repelled by Russian efforts to move toward certain communities.

Reuters was unable to independently confirm the battlefield reports.

Ukraine resilient, needs support

Ukraine, which is badly outgunned has asked the West to speed up heavy weapon deliveries and missile systems in order to change the tide of war.

The Ukrainian army has shown greater resilience than they expected. However, the Institute for the Study of War in the United States stated that, as they run out of Soviet-era weapons, and munitions they have, they will need consistent Western support.

Pavlo KYrylenko, Donetsk’s governor, stated Saturday that Russian shelling had killed two civilians and left at least 10 others wounded.

Ukrainian tankers fired on the frontline near Soledar in Donetsk, Donetsk province, June 10, 2022

Anatolii Stepanov | AFP | Getty Images

Some students from Kharkiv in northeast Ukraine held a dance and photo shoot at their school that was destroyed.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz will travel to Kyiv with French President Emmanuel Macron Macron, Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi and other French officials, Bild am Sonntag reports.

After Russia’s invasion, neither of them has visited Kyiv. Macron tried to establish a dialog with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Some eastern European countries and Baltic states see this as a threat to their attempts to force him into negotiations.

Ursula von der Leyen, President of the European Commission, stated that the European Union would soon have an opinion about Ukraine’s application to join it.

Each of the 27 EU countries would need to accept Ukraine’s candidate status. After that, there would be intensive talks about reforms needed before Ukraine could be considered as a member.

Volodymyr Trrush, the governor of Ternopil in western Ukraine said Saturday night that there had been a Russian attack in Chortkiv. Since April, no Russian aircraft had attacked this area. Chortkiv’s mayor urged residents to stay in shelters.

Russian media reported that Russian authorities began handing out Russian passports to two of the occupied Ukrainian cities, Melitopol (Kherson) and Melitopol (Melitopol). The exact number of passports distributed was unknown.

Wei Fenghe (Chinese Defence Minister) urged the other sides to engage in peace negotiations while speaking at an Asian security conference held in Singapore.

China is determined to promote peace negotiations. China is supportive of talks between Russia, Ukraine. We hope that the U.S., NATO and other countries will hold talks with Russia in order to establish conditions for a quick ceasefire,” Wei stated.

China refused to label Russia’s actions an invasion, and said sanctions would not resolve the issue.

Wei answered a question and said that China has never given any support material to Russia. But, it appears that they have been increasing their purchases of Russian crude oil.

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