June 13, 2022 Russia-Ukraine war news

Our live coverage of Russia’s war in Ukraine has moved here.

The battle for the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine “will surely go down in military history as one of the most brutal battles in Europe and for Europe,” Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nighty address on Monday.

This comes after Ukrainian military officials earlier in the day said their troops had been pushed back from the Severodonetsk city center, which along with its twin city Lysychansk, is at the heart of the current battle for what’s still in Ukrainian control in the Luhansk region in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas.??

Officials also said three key bridges linking Severodonetsk to Lysychansk are now impassable to vehicles, meaning supply routes in and evacuations out via those routes are impossible.

Zelensky said Ukrainians face the “significant advantage of the Russians in the amount of equipment, and especially — artillery systems.”

Zelensky said a boy was killed on Monday by Russian shelling in the battle for Lysychansk.

“This is it: a six-year-old boy on Moskovska Street is also, as it turned out, a dangerous enemy for the Russian Federation,” he said.

Smoke columns rise from Severodonetsk as seen from Lysychansk, Ukraine, on Friday June 10.

All three bridges connecting the embattled city of Severodonetsk with its twin city Lysychansk to the west, are now impassable for vehicles, severely limiting evacuation options for those trying to flee the city and supply routes in, according to Serhiy Hayday, head of the Luhansk region military administration.

“The bridges made it possible to carry at least some humanitarian cargo, something related to reserves. It is currently impossible to use the bridges,” Hayday said.

A second of three bridges were destroyed over the weekend. Hayday’s office explained that the third bridge, which has come under sustained shelling, is now impassable for vehicles.

The destruction of the bridges gives the Russian military another advantage since supply lines are interrupted, Hayday said. Getting in weapons and reserves is now “difficult, but not impossible,” he said.

Hayday said that travel between Severodonetsk and Lysychansk was still possible, but did not go into detail for security reasons.

Hayday also said of Severodonetsk that Russian forces “really control most of the city,” estimating about 70% to 80%.

But he denied claims by the self-declared Luhansk People Republic (LPR) that Severodonetsk has fallen, saying “this is not true.”

“Part of the city is still controlled by Ukrainian defenders. If they had complete control of the city, Russian soldiers would not have died there,” Hayday said.

Hayday also said that even if Ukrainian forces won back the city, it would be impossible to “restore the infrastructure completely before the winter. The only possible thing is to put radiators that will keep the temperature warm in the tents. And yes, everything is broken. With water, with electricity — there will be huge problems with everything.”

Smoke rises from the city of Severodonetsk in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas on June 13.

Intense fighting continues inside Severodonetsk, one of the last holdouts for Ukraine in the Luhansk region, and more widely, the entirety of the country’s eastern Donbas, Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzianyk said in a briefing Monday.

“High-intensity hostilities” continue in Severodonetsk, where Ukrainian troops fight to repel Russia’s advances, Motuzianyk said.?

Russian forces already in control of the city center are “actively using artillery, multiple rocket systems,” he added.

He said that Russia’s advantage is their airpower, which is why they are advancing, adding that Russia is losing troops in armed combat.

In terms of the street fighting happening in Severodonetsk, Russian forces are trying to encircle Ukrainian troops, but “the enemy is suffering significant losses in the infantry units of the Russian Guard and the Russian armed forces. And they are advancing only by using assault aircraft,” Motuzianyk said.

Earlier Monday, the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that Russia had pushed Ukrainian forces back from the city center.??

Russian forces fired three missiles on Pryluky district in Ukraine’s northern Chernihiv region, forcing evacuations of some residents due to the fear of fire spreading, according to officials.?

A still image of the aftermath showed a massive, black plume of smoke rising above the skyline.

“At about 1:15 p.m., the occupiers fired three missiles at Pryluky in the Chernihiv region,” Ukraine’s Operational Command “North” said in a statement on Facebook.

Evacuations have been announced for the villages of Zaiizd, Petrivske, Tykhe and Sukhostavets of Pryluky district.

“The reason for that is the threat of fire spreading,” said Serhii Boldyrev, director of the Department of Civil Defense of the Chernihiv Regional State Administration, told Ukraine’s public broadcaster.

While there are no known casualties, the Chernihiv region has not been a regular target of Russian strikes or shelling recently.?

In March of this year, Chernihiv “suffered great losses,” specifically the city of Chernihiv, after coming under sustained Russian attack leaving scores dead.??

Chernihiv was then occupied by Russian forces, but they withdrew in April.?

?The spokesperson for the Ukrainian military’s international legion on Monday derided a “sense of complacency” among Ukraine’s military patrons, saying that the country needed far more support if it is to defeat Russia’s invasion.

“There’s a certain sense of complacency that seems to have fallen over our western partners that the arms deliveries that Ukraine has been already provided with are somehow enough to win the war,” said Damien Magrou, spokesperson for the International Legion for the Defense of Ukraine,?during a press conference.

Magrou said that Ukraine’s long-range artillery capability was severely lacking.

“Please keep sending heavy artillery, heavy weapon systems, long-distance rockets, anti-ship rockets. All of these things are needed today on the battlefield. They also were needed yesterday. The longer we wait, the more deaths there will be. And these deaths will be not only of Ukrainian armed forces but also our legioners,” he added.

Police officers detain a man during a protest against Russian military action in Ukraine, in Manezhnaya Square in central Moscow, Russia, on March 13.

The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights Michelle Bachelet has called the “arbitrary arrest of a large number of anti-war protesters” in Russia “worrying.”

Speaking at the UN’s Human Rights Council session in Geneva Monday, Bachelet added that Russia had introduced “new criminal law restrictions” that included “general prohibitions on the dissemination of information based on vague and ambiguous notions, including ‘false news’ or ‘non-objective information.’”

Bachelet had earlier told diplomats that “the war in Ukraine continues to destroy the lives of many, causing havoc and destruction” and the “horrors inflicted on the civilian population will leave their indelible mark, including on generations to come.”

Russia could encircle Severodonetsk within days and plans to “completely cut off” the key eastern city, according to Ukrainian military officials, who warn that Russia has pushed Ukrainian forces back from the center of the city.

Here are the latest headlines on the war in Ukraine:

The battle for Luhansk: The Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine is at the epicenter of the conflict with much of the area already under Russian control. The focus of the fighting is on the twin cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk.?

Russia has pushed Ukrainian forces back from the center of Severodonetsk, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) said Monday morning.

“The enemy, with the support of artillery, carried out assault operations in the city of Severodonetsk, had partial success, pushed our units away from the city center, and hostilities continue,” said the AFU.

Russia was seeing success “due to a significant advantage in artillery,” said Serhiy Hayday, head of the Luhansk region military administration, via Telegram.

IAEA says Russian-occupied Ukrainian nuclear plant has re-started remote data transmission: The International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) said on Sunday that it is once again getting remote data transmission from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is currently in Russian-held territory. The transmission of “vital safeguards data” from the plant was cut on May 30 and restored on Sunday, the IAEA said.

Amnesty accuses Russia of war crimes in Kharkiv: Amnesty International has accused Russia of war crimes during its efforts to capture the north-eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv. In a new 40-page report, Amnesty has documented the alleged use of cluster munitions and other indiscriminate means of attack. The United Nations Convention on Cluster Munitions, which came into force in 2010, bans the use of cluster munitions. Russia is not party to the treaty (neither is the United States).

Ship carrying Ukrainian corn arrives at port in northwestern Spain, officials say: A ship carrying 18,000 tons of Ukrainian corn arrived early Monday at a port in northwestern Spain, using what a regional animal feed producers group described as a “new maritime route” that aims to avoid Russia’s blockade of Ukraine’s ports on the Black Sea.

The cargo ship Alppila, carrying the corn, arrived at Spain’s port of A Coru?a before dawn on Monday and is due to be unloaded by Tuesday, the port’s press office told CNN. Russia’s war in Ukraine could push up to 49 million people into famine or famine-like conditions because of its devastating impact on global food supply and prices, and countries are scrambling to find a way around the blockade. On Sunday, a Ukrainian government official told Reuters Ukraine has identified alternate routes to export grain stores.?

French President Emmanuel?Macron?welcomes a guest at the Elysee Palace in Paris, France, on June 10.

French President Emmanuel Macron has no firm plans to make a wartime visit to Ukraine, the Elysee Palace said Monday.

“The President said he would visit Ukraine at the appropriate moment. Several options are being studied, nothing is fixed at this stage,” the Elysee said.

Unlike several European leaders, Macron hasn’t visited Ukraine since the Russian invasion began on February 24. The French president, who is currently chairing the European Union Council, has repeatedly said that he will travel to Ukraine when it is “useful.”

Macron visited Kyiv on February 8 as part of efforts to de-escalate tensions around Ukraine.

EU Commission President in Ukraine: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen returned to Kyiv on Saturday to meet with Zelensky and discuss Ukraine’s EU membership progress.

“As you know the Commission is currently preparing the recommendations of so-called opinion for the EU member states,” she said in Kyiv. “We have been working day and night on this assessment and I promise to you in April dear Volodymyr that we will be tirelessly working on it. So, the discussions today will enable us to finalize our assessment by the end of next week.”

The Finnish merchant ship Alppila arriving at the port of A Coru?a, on June 13, in A Coru?a, Galicia, Spain.

A ship carrying 18,000 tons of Ukrainian corn arrived early Monday at a port in northwestern Spain, using what a regional animal feed producers group described as a “new maritime route” that aims to avoid Russia’s blockade of Ukraine’s ports on the Black Sea.

The cargo ship Alppila, carrying the corn, arrived at Spain’s port of A Coru?a before dawn on Monday and is due to be unloaded by Tuesday, the port’s press office told CNN.

It’s the first shipment of Ukrainian grain to reach northwestern Spain by sea, using “a new maritime route opened in the Baltic Sea to avoid the Russian navy’s blockade of Ukraine’s ports on the Black Sea since the start of the war” last February, the animal feed producers group, called Agafac, said in a statement.

Some background:?Russia’s war in Ukraine could push up to 49 million people into famine or famine-like conditions because of its devastating impact on global food supply and prices, and countries are scrambling to find a way around the blockade. On Sunday, a Ukrainian government official told Reuters Ukraine has identified alternate routes to export grain stores.?

Deputy Foreign Minister and Chief Digital Transformation Officer Dmytro Senik said Ukraine was attempting to establish new routes with Romania, Poland and the Baltic States to allow 22 million tons of grain stuck in Ukraine’s seaports to “reach their destination.”?

He said Agafac, the Galicia regional animal feed producers group, typically imports 40% of its corn from Ukraine between January and June each year, which is part of the total 1 million tons of corn it imports for livestock feed annually.

The Agafac statement said that “small quantities of corn have left western Ukraine in trucks for Poland and Romania” and that the corn which arrived in Spain was loaded onto a ship at Poland’s Baltic Sea port of Swinoujscie.

The Alppila is a Finnish-flagged cargo ship that was in Swinoujscie in late May before making stops at two German ports and then arriving at A Coru?a port on Monday, according to vesselfinder.com.

Beade said he didn’t know if Ukrainian corn had arrived at any other Spanish ports since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in late February.

The Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine – which makes up Donbas along with the neighboring Donetsk region – is at the epicenter of the invasion, with much of the area already under Russian control. The focus of the fighting is on the twin cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, where Russian forces have destroyed the second of three bridges between the cities and are heavily shelling the third, with the aim to “completely cut off”? Severodonetsk, according to Serhiy Hayday, head of the Luhansk regional military administration.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky?has said the fight may dictate the outcome of the war in the east of the country.

“Severodonetsk remains the epicenter of the confrontation in Donbas,” Zelensky said earlier last week.

Street fighting continued to rage over the weekend.

“The situation remains difficult. Fighting continues, but unfortunately, most of the city is under Russian control. Some positional battles are taking place in the streets,” Hayday said.

Here are four other developments from the weekend:

EU Commission President in Ukraine: European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen returned to Kyiv on Saturday to meet with Zelensky and discuss Ukraine’s EU membership progress.

“As you know the Commission is currently preparing the recommendations of so-called opinion for the EU member states,” she said in Kyiv. “We have been working day and night on this assessment and I promise to you in April dear Volodymyr that we will be tirelessly working on it. So, the discussions today will enable us to finalize our assessment by the end of next week.”

Russia issues passports to occupied cities: Russia issued its first passports to 23 residents of the occupied city of Kherson in southern Ukraine a day ahead of Russia Day, Russian state news agency TASS reported Saturday, citing the Russian-appointed leader of the region.

“All our Kherson comrades want to get a [Russian Federation] passport and citizenship as soon as possible,” Vladimir Saldo, head of Kherson regional military-civilian administration said at the ceremony as quoted by TASS.

An unspecified number of passports were also issued for the first time in the southern Ukrainian city of Melitopol, TASS reported citing the Zaporizhzhia regional military-civilian administration.

New grain routes established:?Russia’s war in Ukraine could push up to 49 million people into famine or famine-like conditions because of its devastating impact on global food supply and prices, and countries are scrambling to find a way around the blockade. On Sunday, a Ukrainian government official told Reuters Ukraine has identified alternate routes to export grain stores.?

Deputy Foreign Minister and Chief Digital Transformation Officer Dmytro Senik said Ukraine was attempting to establish new routes with Romania, Poland and the Baltic States to allow 22 million tons of grain stuck in Ukraine’s seaports to “reach their destination.”?

In Russia: Russians saw 15 McDonald’s restaurants reopen on Sunday under new branding and ownership, according to its owner Alexander Nikolaevich Govor.

The American fast-food giant has been renamed “Vkusno & Tochka,” which translates to “Tasty and that’s it.”

The chain decided to leave the country and sell its Russia business, in line with many other Western businesses following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, which began in February.

Ukrainian forces in Severodonetsk must surrender or face death, a leader of the separatist so-called Donetsk Peoples Republic (DPR) in eastern Ukraine said Monday.

“They have two options: either follow the example of their colleagues and give up, or die,” said Eduard Basurin, deputy head of the People’s Militia Department in the DPR, reports Russian state media outlet?RIA?Novosti.

“They don’t have any other option,” he added.

Russian forces are now in control of most of Severodonetsk, the epicenter of the bloody battle for Ukraine’s eastern Donbas region, but Ukrainian lines to the city do not yet appear to be totally severed.

Serhiy Hayday, head of the Luhansk region military administration,?said Monday that Ukraine was still managing to evacuate some people from the city, but it was limited by the scale of bombardment.

Russia has pushed Ukrainian forces back from the center of Severodonetsk, the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) said Monday morning.

“The enemy, with the support of artillery, carried out assault operations in the city of Severodonetsk, had partial success, pushed our units away from the city center, and hostilities continue,” said the AFU.

Russia was seeing success “due to a significant advantage in artillery,” said Serhiy Hayday, head of the Luhansk region military administration, via Telegram.

Hayday said around 500 civilians, including 40 children, are still sheltering at the city’s Azot chemical plant, which is coming under heavy bombardment “by large caliber enemy artillery,” he said.

Ukrainian forces were trying to evacuate people, said Hayday. “Azot shelters are not as strong as those in Mariupol’s Azovstal,” he added.

Ukrainian service members fire a BM-21 Grad multiple?rocket?launch system, near the town of Lysychansk, Luhansk region, Ukraine, on?June 12.

Ukraine is appealing for “heavy weapons parity’’ ahead of a summit of defense ministers in Brussels on Wednesday.

Podolyak said that Ukraine needed: “1,000 howitzers caliber 155 mm; 300 MLRS; 500 tanks; 2,000 armored vehicles; 1,000 drones.”

NATO?will on Wednesday?host the Ukrainian defense minister, along with allied ministers and officials from Sweden, Finland, Georgia, and the European Union.

An aerial view of completely destroyed settlements after shellings the in northern Saltivka-3 neighbourhood of Kharkiv, in eastern Ukraine, on June 12.

Amnesty International has accused Russia of war crimes during its efforts to capture the north-eastern Ukrainian city of Kharkiv.

In a new 40-page report, Amnesty has documented the alleged use of cluster munitions and other indiscriminate means of attack.

Amnesty’s researchers say they “documented seven strikes in different areas of Kharkiv, where they found fins and pellets of 9N210 or 9N235 cluster munitions.”

Some context: The United Nations Convention on Cluster Munitions, which came into force in 2010,?bans the use of?cluster munitions. Russia?is not party?to the treaty (neither is the United States).

Amnesty also said that Russia has used the PTM-1S, “a small, scatterable anti-personnel mine.”

Donatella Rovera, Amnesty International’s senior crisis response adviser, said that the investigation was “further indication of utter disregard for civilian lives.”

Russian officials have repeatedly insisted that they do not target civilians.

A Russian serviceman guards in an area of the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Station in territory under Russian military control, southeastern Ukraine, on May 1.

The?International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)?said on Sunday?that it is once again getting remote data transmission from the Zaporizhzhia nuclear power plant, which is currently in Russian-held territory.

The transmission of “vital safeguards data” from the plant was cut on May 30 and restored on Sunday, the IAEA said.

The power?plant?has been under Russian control since early March, but is still operated by its Ukrainian staff.

IAEA Director General Rafael Mariano Grossi said on Sunday that he was continuing to appeal for an in-person trip to the power station “as soon as possible to carry out essential nuclear material verification activities which cannot be done remotely.”

Some background: The Zaporizhzhia plant has been the source of some tension between the IAEA and Ukrainian officials. Ukrainian officials have accused the IAEA of legitimizing Russia’s occupation of the plant.

Asked about whether a visit would legitimize Russia’s control of the?plant, Grossi told?CNN’s Becky Anderson last week that?“it is absolutely incorrect. When I go there, I will be going there under the same agreement that Ukraine passed with the IAEA, not the Russian Federation. Ukraine!”

A local resident stands in front of a destroyed school after a strike in the city of Bakhmut, in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas, on June 8.

At first glance?Bakhmut?doesn’t look like a city at?war.

As we drive into the city in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine on a warm sunny morning, men in orange vests tend to the roses. The tall trees shading the streets are thick with leaves.

Traffic is light because of fuel shortages, so many residents get around on bicycles.

This peaceful fa?ade, however, is deceptive. Explosions regularly echo over Bakhmut: the blasts of outgoing and incoming artillery and rockets outside, and occasionally inside, the city.

Tetyana volunteers with the bread distribution. When I ask if she intends to stay in Bakhmut if Russian forces push closer, her demeanor changes. She shakes her head.

Read the full story:

Related article Russians are on the verge of capturing key Ukrainian city. In neighboring Bakhmut those with nowhere else to go brace for their arrival

Reading Russian President Vladimir Putin’s mind is?rarely a straightforward task, but on occasion the Kremlin leader makes it easy.

Such was the case on Thursday, when Putin met with a group of young Russian entrepreneurs. Anyone looking for clues as to what Putin’s endgame for?Ukraine?might be should read the transcript, helpfully released?here?in English.

Putin’s words speak for themselves: What he is aiming for in Ukraine is the restoration of Russia as an imperial power.

Many observers quickly picked up on one of Putin’s more provocative lines, in which he compared himself to Peter the Great, Russia’s modernizing tsar and the founder of St. Petersburg – Putin’s own birthplace – who came to power in the late 17th century.

It didn’t matter that European countries didn’t recognize Peter the Great’s seizure of territory by force, Putin added.

Read the full analysis here:

Russian President Vladimir Putin attends a joint press conference with President of Turkmenistan Serdar Berdimuhamedow following their meeting in Moscow, Russia, June 10, 2022. The Turkmen president is on official visit in Moscow.

Related article Restoration of empire is the endgame for Russia's Vladimir Putin | CNN

Russia could encircle Severodonetsk within days and plans to “completely cut off” the key eastern city, according to Ukrainian military officials.?

Here are the latest headlines on the war in Ukraine:

US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby speaks with CNN on Sunday June 12.

US National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications John Kirby told CNN on Sunday that Russian President Vladimir Putin “absolutely has weaponized food” in his invasion of?Ukraine.

Kirby said the administration of US President Joe Biden and partner nations are working to overcome an export blockade that’s causing a global food shortage.

Russia’s export blockade, Kirby acknowledged, “is going to have a global impact.”

Earlier this week,?CNN reported Russia’s war in?Ukraine?could push up to 49 million people into famine?or famine-like conditions because of its devastating impact on global food supply and prices, per UN estimates.

Jordan Gatley a former British Army solder is seen in this undated image.

The United Kingdom’s Foreign, Commonwealth and Development Office told CNN it is supporting the family of a former British Army soldier who was killed fighting in?Ukraine.

His death was announced by his family on Saturday.

In a?Facebook post, Jordan Gatley was described as “truly a hero” by his father Dean.

?Gatley went to?Ukraine?“to help” after careful consideration, according to his father’s post.

?The post continued with his father writing that his son often told him the missions were “dangerous, but necessary.”

Ukrainian presidential adviser Mikhailo Podolyak?tweeted?on Sunday that, “it takes a lot of courage to leave home and go thousand miles to defend what you believe in.”

An explosion near the Ministry of Internal Affairs building in Russian-occupied Melitopol in?Ukraine’s southern?Zaporizhzhia?region injured at least four people, according to a local official.

The pro-Russian deputy head of the Internal Affairs Ministry, Alexey Selivanov described the blast in a Telegram post as a “terrorist” act by what he called “Ukrainian militants.”

An IED was hidden in a trash can near to the ministry building, and a girl walking past was seriously injured, along with at least one man, Selivanov said. He also said security forces were on the scene.?

Melitopol fell to Russian control in early March, not long after Russia invaded?Ukraine.??

Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine Valeriy Zaluzhnyi attends a meeting with Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in Kyiv, Ukraine on April 24.

Ukraine’s Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces told his US counterpart that Russia was concentrating its main efforts in the northern part of the Luhansk region, in the country’s east.

Valerii Zaluzhnyi briefed General Mark A. Milley, the US chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on the latest battlefield updates in?Ukraine, he said in a Telegram post on Sunday.

He also said Russia was using “artillery en masse and unfortunately has a tenfold fire superiority” but that Ukraine?was holding its positions there.

Remember: Luhansk region in eastern?Ukraine?is at the epicenter of the conflict.?Much of the area is already under Russian control.

In the east: Zaluzhnyi described the situation in Luhansk as “complicated, in particular, in the city of Severodonetsk. Up to seven battalion tactical groups were deployed by the enemy there. Despite the heavy fire, we managed to stop the enemy.”

In the north: Zaluzhnyi said in northern and northeastern?Ukraine, Russian forces “resumed shelling the residential areas of Kharkiv, which requires us to take adequate action.”

He also said Russian forces had targeted the Chernihiv and Sumy regions using artillery and mortar fire, adding “we’re firing back.”

The front line: Zaluzhnyi said there is a 2,450 kilometer (1,522 miles) frontline, of which 1,105 kilometers (686 miles) is in “active hostilities.”

He asked General Miley “to help us get more 155 mm caliber artillery systems in the shortest possible time.”

Ukraine has identified alternate routes to export languishing stores of grain due to the Russian blockade of various ports, a Ukrainian government official has said.

“With the help of our friends and partners, namely Romania, Poland and the Baltic States we found two routes, we established two routes which help us export these agricultural commodities,” Senik said.

The Deputy Foreign Minister said these routes are experiencing “bottlenecks” which are slowing down the export process.

Senik said he didn’t have any numbers on how much if any grain had been moved through these routes.

Some context: CNN has previously reported that millions of tons of grain remain stuck in Ukraine, stored in silos and at the port in Odesa, leading to a dramatic spike in global food prices that’s likely to worsen as the war continues.

Important exporter: Ukraine is the world’s fourth-largest exporter of corn and the fifth-largest exporter of wheat, according to the State Department, and the UN’s program to fight food insecurity buys about half of its wheat from Ukraine each year.

Read more on the grain crisis here:

A satellite image shows a closeup of bulk carrier ship loading grain at the port of Sevastopol, Crimea May 19, 2022. Picture taken May 19, 2022. Satellite image 2022 Maxar Technologies/Handout via REUTERS ATTENTION EDITORS - THIS IMAGE HAS BEEN SUPPLIED BY A THIRD PARTY. MANDATORY CREDIT. NO RESALES. NO ARCHIVES. DO NOT OBSCURE LOGO.

Related article Why Russia is being accused of using food as a weapon of war

Smoke rises from Severodonetsk, Ukraine on Friday June 10.

Russia plans to isolate the key city of Severodonetsk in eastern?Ukraine?in the coming days according to Ukrainian military officials.?

The twin cities of Severodonetsk and?Lysychansk?are the epicenter of fighting in the east and Ukrainian officials have said most of the former is now under Russian control.?

Overnight on Sunday, Russian armed forces destroyed the second of three bridges between the two cities and are heavily shelling the third, Serhiy Hayday, head of the Luhansk regional military administration said.

It’s possible they will cut off and seize the main highway into the city, he said.

Shells are seen around a Ukrainian tank in the Donetsk region in Ukraine on June 11

Ukrainian forces have repelled Russian assaults in various parts of the country’s embattled eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU) spokesperson Oleksandr Shtupun said Sunday.?

In Donetsk: Shtupun said Ukrainian forces repelled Russian offensives northwest of the city of Sloviansk in the eastern Donetsk region. Earlier this week, the AFU said that Russia was focusing its efforts on moving south from Izyum towards Sloviansk, where intense fighting over many weeks has not managed to move the front line significantly.

Russia “did not take active action in the Lyman direction, and continued shelling of our units. It takes measures to prepare for the offensive,” he added. Lyman lays roughly 37 miles west of Severodonetsk.

In Luhansk: The AFU spokesperson said Russia continues to use artillery to try to overcome Ukrainian resistance and take full control of the city of Severodonetsk, which has endured fierce fighting over the past few weeks.

Shtupun said Russian forces carried out unsuccessful attacks in an attempt to take the village of Vrubivka, which lies northeast of the city of Bakhmut in Donetsk.

Russia has devoted huge resources in its attempts to cut the main road that links Severodonetsk and neighboring Lysychansk in Luhansk to Bakhmut, Serhiy Hayday, head of the Luhansk regional military administration, said this week.

Approximately 12 miles east of Vrubivka, Russian forces withdrew after receiving a “decisive rebuff” while trying to restart their assault in the direction of the settlements of Zolote and Orikhove.

Overview: The UAF appears to be painting a picture of fierce Ukrainian resistance and very limited Russian gains in the Luhansk and Donetsk regions.

A raging fire at the Azot chemical plant in Severodonetsk has been put out, according to the press office of the Luhansk region Governor.

This comes amid intense fighting between Ukraine and Russia for the key city of Severodonetsk in eastern Ukraine.?

On Saturday, Serhiy Hayday, head of the Luhansk regional military administration, had said that the Azot chemical plant had been “shelled very heavily for hours”, adding that oil leaking from radiators there had caused a “very powerful fire”.?

Hayday on Sunday said the situation was “under control” and that while Azot was being shelled, there was no fighting happening on its grounds, rather any “street combat” was happening on the city outskirts.

The twin cities of Severodonetsk and?Lysychansk?are at the epicenter of fighting in Ukraine’s east.?Ukrainian officials have said most of Severodonetsk is now under Russian control.?

Russians on Sunday fired on two areas of central Ukraine: on Kryvyi Rih, and on Synelnykivsky in Dnipropetrovsk region, according to Valentyn Reznichenko, head of Ukraine’s Dnipropetrovsk regional military administration.

Reznichenko also said Russians used a Hurricane multi-launch rocket system (MLRS) to attack a park in the Zelenodolsk district [also in Kryvyi Rih]. As a result of the attack, a fire broke out, but it was subdued by rescuers.?No one was injured, he added.

Previously, CNN reported villages and towns in Kryvyi Rih are under “constant Russian fire” and?“littered with cluster munitions due to shelling”.?There is also a shortage of gas, electricity and water supply, according to officials.