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| GLEB GARANICH/REUTERS |
Close urban combat in Severodonetsk comes as Ukraine awaits U.S. weapons and France’s Macron warns of escalating the conflict
Ukrainian forces managed to retake parts of the city of Severodonetsk in a counterattack, as they try to hold off the Russian offensive in eastern Ukraine while Kyiv waits for new long-range rocket systems from the U.S.
The close-quarters combat in Severodonetsk makes it harder for Russian troops to unleash artillery against Ukrainian forces. The artillery barrages have enabled Russian forces to crush Ukrainian defenses and make steady gains on the ground. Elsewhere, Russia has used missiles and rockets to hit farther afield, including with a strike on Kyiv on Sunday.
Ukrainian leaders are hoping that the arrival of heavier weaponry from the West will enable them to turn the tide against better-armed Russian forces in the eastern Donbas region. The Biden administration last week said it would provide Ukraine with a guided-rocket system capable of striking targets from as far as 48 miles.
Ukraine’s push to get more capable weaponry from the West comes as France’s president expressed concerns about escalating the conflict with Moscow and as Russian President Vladimir Putin warned about the latest U.S. military assistance. --->READ MORE HERE
Ukraine said on Saturday it had recaptured a swathe of the battlefield city of Sievierodonetsk, where intense fighting continued, in a rare counter-offensive against Russia's main assault force that had been steadily advancing in the east.
The Ukrainian claim could not be independently verified, and Moscow said its own forces were making gains there. But it was the first time Kyiv has claimed to have launched a big counter-attack in Sievierodonetsk after days of yielding ground there.
Sievierodonetsk Mayor Oleksandr Stryuk said street fighting continued during the day on Saturday, with both sides exchanging artillery fire.
"The situation is tense, complicated. ... Our military is doing everything it can to drive the enemy out of the city," he told national television, saying there was a shortage of food, fuel and medicine.
Russia has concentrated its forces on Sievierodonetsk in recent weeks for one of the biggest ground battles of the war, with Moscow appearing to bet its campaign on capturing one of two eastern provinces it claims on behalf of separatist proxies. --->READ MORE HEREFollow links below to +++++relevant+++++ and related stories:
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