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Fierce battles are taking place in eastern Ukraine for control of the Donbass region, where Russian forces threaten the city of Severodonetsk, which is under constant bombardment, following Moscow declared control of the strategic town of Lyman.

More than three months following the start of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Olaf “Schulz” asked Russian President Vladimir Putin during a phone call yesterday (Saturday) to enter into “serious direct negotiations” with his Ukrainian counterpart. Volodymyr Zelensky, the release of 2,500 Ukrainian fighters who were holed up in the Azovstal industrial complex in Mariupol (southeast) and surrendered to Russian forces, AFP reported.

For his part, Putin stressed – according to the Kremlin – that Russia remains “open to resuming dialogue” with Kyiv to settle the armed conflict, while peace negotiations with Ukraine have been suspended since March.

On the military front, the Russian forces are tightening the cordon on the Donbass region, especially around Severodonetsk, where “the enemy launched offensive operations,” according to a report issued today (Sunday), by the Chief of Staff of the Ukrainian Army.

Yesterday evening, the governor of Lugansk region, Sergey Gaidai, announced that “Russia is using all its means to control Severodonetsk or prevent any contact between the region and Ukraine.”

He admitted that “the next week will be very difficult,” but he saw that the Russian forces “will not be able to achieve everything they plan in the near future.”

For his part, the mayor of Severodonetsk, Oleksandr Stryuk, confirmed that “the Russians have come up with many means to storm the city, but they cannot do that so far,” adding: “We believe that the city will resist.”

He pointed to the deterioration of the health situation in the city, which had a population of one hundred thousand people before the war.

On Saturday evening, he wrote on Telegram that the “continuous bombing” makes it difficult to deliver supplies to the city, especially drinking water, while the electricity has been cut off for more than two weeks, adding that the “Humanitarian Aid Center” has suspended its activity.

Sergei Gaidai had previously reported that “the Russian army is simply destroying the city,” noting that he entered the city’s outskirts, where he suffered “heavy losses”, while Ukrainian forces continue their attempts to drive the Russians out of a hotel.

This came in response to an official in the police of the pro-Russian separatist “Republic of Lugansk”, who announced in statements carried by the Russian news agency “Ria Novosti”, on Friday, that “the city of Severodonetsk is currently besieged” and the Ukrainian forces are surrounded in it.

Also, the leader of the Russian republic of Chechnya, Ramzan Kadyrov, announced yesterday evening on “Telegram” that “Severodonetsk is under our complete control … the city has been liberated.”

To the west, the Russian Defense Ministry confirmed yesterday the control of the town of Lyman, which is a crossing to the major cities of Sloviansk and Kramatorsk in the Donbass, following pro-Moscow separatists announced on Friday the “full control” of Lyman with the “support” of Russian forces.

Zelensky had admitted (Friday), that “the situation in this area of ​​Donbass is very difficult” in light of the artillery and missile bombardment focused on it, but added: “If the occupiers think that Lyman and Severodonetsk will become theirs, they are mistaken. Donbass will be Ukrainian.”

After the failure of its attacks on Kyiv and Kharkiv (northeast) at the beginning of the war, the Russian forces focused their attack on eastern Ukraine with the declared aim of controlling the Donbass basin, rich in mines and partially controlled since 2014 by the Moscow-backed separatists.

At a time when Ukraine is currently unable to export its grain due to the blockade imposed on its ports, Putin confirmed during his call with Macron and Scholz his country’s readiness to help export grain from Ukraine “without restrictions”.

“Russia is ready to help find solutions for the unrestricted export of grain, including Ukrainian grain, coming from the ports on the Black Sea,” the Kremlin said in a statement issued at the conclusion of the call.

Putin said the difficulties related to food supplies were caused by “erratic economic and financial policy on the part of Western countries, as well as sanctions once morest Russia.”

In Mariupol, which was subjected to Russian bombardment for three months and was completely destroyed before it fell last week, the Russian news agency “TASS” announced yesterday, quoting the pro-Russian Port Administration Authority, the entry of the first cargo ship to the port of the city in southeastern Ukraine.

The Ukrainian Navy commented on Facebook, describing the announcement as “manipulation” because Russian ship groups “continue to prevent civilian navigation in the waters of the Black Sea and the Sea of ​​Azov, ignoring international navigation laws.”

During the phone call, Putin also stressed “the danger of continuing to flood Ukraine with Western weapons,” warning of “the greater risks of destabilizing the situation and exacerbating the humanitarian crisis,” according to the Kremlin.

The passing of a bill “criminalizing normalization” with Israel the day before yesterday sparked controversy in Iraq, while the United States expressed its alarm at this development, which threatens to destabilize relations between Baghdad and Washington.

At a time when there was talk in some political circles and on social media that there is more than one copy of this law, there were fears that the Iraqi parliament’s decision, which was supported by Iran and its allies, would put the country on the list of countries that might be targeted by Washington. While some opinions and tweets went to say that Iraq had resolved its position by joining the so-called “resistance front” once morest Israel, there were those who saw that this law risks harming Iraq’s relationship with countries in its Arab and Islamic surroundings that have relations with Israel.

While Britain described the new law as “appalling,” Washington expressed its alarm, as the US State Department said in a statement that the legislation “in addition to endangering freedom of expression and promoting an anti-Semitism environment, this legislation stands in stark contrast to the progress made by Iraq’s neighbors through Building ties, normalizing relations with Israel, and creating new opportunities for people across the region.”

The leader of the Sadrist movement, Muqtada al-Sadr, who is considered the godfather of this law, alerted to the state of international alarm at its adoption, whether through countries or political or religious circles. He tweeted, saying, “He is not hostile to religions, but rather to extremism, terrorism and injustice.” Al-Sadr added: “We protect the Christian and Jewish minorities, and you are expelling Arabs and Muslims.” He concluded the tweet by saying: “We condemn the action of ISIS, and you support Western extremism.”
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Yesterday, it seemed that the Russian-backed separatist forces had made tangible progress on a number of axes in the Donbass region in eastern Ukraine, while Ukraine requested “heavy weapons” to counter the Russian advance.

The Donetsk Regional Defense Headquarters reported that the “Republic” forces, with the support of the Russian army, imposed complete control over the city of Krasnyi Lyman. Simultaneously, Andrei Maruchko, representative of the Ministry of Defense in Lugansk, announced that the forces of the “People’s Militia” in the region had succeeded in blocking the road to the Ukrainian government forces and besieging the rest of these forces in Sever and Donetsk.

With the war entering its fourth month, Western military analysts believe that the battle of Sever and Donetsk may represent a possible turning point in the war following the surrender of the Ukrainian garrison in Mariupol last week.

In addition, US officials revealed the long-range MLRS launchers, which Kyiv has long requested, and will provide to help Ukraine repel the Russian attack, in the Donbass region. However, the delivery of these systems is conditional on not targeting Russian territory. In turn, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky acknowledged the inevitability of talking with Moscow and Russian President Vladimir Putin in order to end the war. Zelensky said Ukraine was not enthusiastic regarding talking to Putin, but that it would have to face the fact that this would likely be necessary to end the war. He added that Russia does not yet appear ready to take peace talks seriously. Zelensky called on the West to stop messing with Russia and to impose tougher sanctions on Moscow to end its “futile war,” adding that his country would remain independent, but the only question is at what cost.
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