Ukraine Fearful As Russia Pushes For Victory In East
By Stefan J. Bos, Chief International Correspondent Worthy News
KYIV/BUDAPEST (Worthy News) – Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned late Monday that the battle for Ukraine’s eastern Donbas would go down as one of the most brutal in European history as Russian forces pushed for victory in the region.
The Russian military reportedly cut off the last routes for evacuating citizens from the eastern Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk as Kyiv appealed for more advanced Western weapons.
The last bridge to the city was destroyed, trapping any remaining civilians and making it impossible to deliver humanitarian supplies, said regional governor Sergei Gaidai.
He stressed that some 70 percent of the strategic city was under Russian control. The setbacks came as outgunned Ukraine revealed a detailed wishlist of Western weapons it said it urgently needed to resist Russia’s military.
“Being straightforward—to end the war, we need heavy weapons parity,” said presidential adviser Mykhailo Podolyak Monday.
To end the conflict, “Ukraine needs 1,000 howitzers caliber 155 mm, 300 MLRS (M270 Multiple Launch Rocket System), 500 tanks, 2,000 armored vehicles, and 1,000 drones,” Podolyak added.
WEAPONS LATE
However, Kyiv had mounting concerns that the weapons would arrive too late to halt the Russian military’s advantage in Donbas despite massive casualties on both sides.
Donbas, which includes the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces, is claimed by Russian-backed separatists and is part of Moscow’s plan to capture more territory from Ukraine.
With a ring tightening on the Luhansk region, Ukrainian forces in the area have two choices, “to surrender or die,” said Eduard Basurin, a representative for pro-Russian separatists.
These raging battles added to international concerns that the war would escalate into other countries, including the Baltics.
The Baltic nation Lithuania agreed Monday to buy 18 howitzers from France, both sides’ defense ministers announced Monday.
Lithuania, a European Union and NATO military alliance member, injects a further am300 million euros ($312 million) into its 2022 defense budget as the war increases security fears.
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