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Ukrainian Forces Endure Heavy Shelling In East As Readiness Check Ordered Over Potential Threat From Belarus

By RFE/RL June 16, 2022

Ukrainian officials say their troops are holding out against massive bombardment in the eastern city of Syevyerodonetsk as Russian forces target the city and nearby region with artillery and multiple rocket launcher.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in its report late on June 16 that fighting had been particularly heavy in and around Syevyerodonetsk and Lysychansk, the twin city held by Ukraine on the opposite bank of the Siverskiy Donets river.

Earlier on Ukrainian television, Security Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov raised the possibility of a threat from Belarus. Officials meeting on June 15 discussed the situation in the neighboring country, the condition of the Belarusian army, and how many Russian troops there are.

Danilov said there will be an inspection in four areas to assess readiness, adding that the issue "is under the control of the president."

The fighting in Syevyerodonetsk has gone on for weeks in a battle that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy says could determine the fate of the Donbas. Moscow would control the whole of the Luhansk region if its troops managed to seize Syevyerodonetsk and Lysychansk.

The United Nations has warned that some 12,000 civilians remain trapped in Syevyerodonetsk with essential supplies running out, and many of them are sheltering in bunkers beneath the city's Azot chemical plant.

The mayor of Syevyerodonetsk, Oleksandr Stryuk, told Ukrainian television on June 16 that there were about 500 civilians trapped in shelters at the plant.

"Fighting and constant shelling have been going on there for almost a week now," he said, warning that the shelling could damage ammonia storage and trigger a chemical disaster. "It is a miracle that the whole city has not been affected."

An air strike hit a building sheltering civilians in Lysychansk on June 16, killing at least three and wounding at least seven, according to Serhiy Hayday, the head of the Luhansk region.

Ukraine's soldiers managed to push back Russian advances in other areas along the front, while in Kharkiv, Russian troops halted Ukrainian troops by deploying artillery.

Near Donetsk and Zaporizhzhya, Russia also carried out attacks to tie down Ukrainian troops.

In the northeastern Sumy region, Russia launched a missile strike, killing four people and injuring six others, Dmytro Zhyvytskiy, head of Sumy's regional administration, said on Telegram.

In Brussels, Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksiy Reznikov and other officials met with the representatives of around 50 countries in the Ukraine Defense Contact Group at NATO headquarters. Ukraine's request for more heavy weapons has been the main topic of the meeting.

Britain announced it would provide Ukraine with 20 multiple-launch rocket systems. Defense Minister Ben Wallace confirmed that Britain would send the units to Ukraine.

The systems were purchased from a Belgian arms company and are to be handed over directly to Kyiv in addition to "a small number of rocket-propelled grenade launchers from the British Army's stockpile," the BBC reported.

According to Wallace, in some locations Russia has a 20-fold advantage in artillery over the Ukrainian army.

Mykhaylo Podolyak, a senior aide to Zelenskiy, dismissed Russia's latest comments about being ready to resume negotiations as "an attempt to deceive the world."

Russia wants to give the impression that it is ready to talk while planning to stab Ukraine in the back, he said. Kyiv would definitely return to the negotiations but only at the right time, he added.

Russian President Vladimir Putin meanwhile held a call with Chinese President Xi Jinping, their second since Russia attacked Ukraine.

China has refused to condemn Moscow's invasion of Ukraine and is holding talks about increased sales of Russian gas.

With reporting by Reuters, BBC, AFP, and dpa

Source: https://www.rferl.org/a/ukraine-russia-syevyerodonetsk- belarus-arms-nato-putin-zelenskiy/31901661.html

Copyright (c) 2022. RFE/RL, Inc. Reprinted with the permission of Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, 1201 Connecticut Ave., N.W. Washington DC 20036.