Russia advances in control of Donbas and takes a strategic enclave

The Moscow pincer on the region of the ukrainian donbas it is closing. This Saturday, the Russian Ministry of Defense confirmed the seizure of the Ukrainian town of limena strategic location as it is an important railway hub.

“The situation in Donbas is very very difficult“, recognized the Ukrainian president, Volodímir Zelenski. “We protect our land and do everything to strengthen” the defense of this region, he assured. Limán is a key point in the Russian advance in eastern Ukraine, which paves the way for the large towns of Slovyanskwhich kyiv seized from pro-Russian separatists in 2014, and Kramatorskcapital of the Donetsk region (east) which is still under the control of Ukraine.

“Following joint actions of the militia units of the Donetsk People’s Republic and the Russian armed forces, the city of Liman has been totally liberated of Ukrainian nationalists,” the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement, confirming the information released on Friday by pro-Russian Ukrainian separatists. After the unsuccessful offensive on kyiv and Kharkiv (northeast) at the start of the war launched by Russia on 24 February, Russian forces have concentrated in recent weeks in eastern Ukraine to control the donbas mining areawhich since 2014 has been partially in the hands of pro-Russian separatists supported by Moscow.

Zelensky assured that “if the occupiers think that Liman and Severodonetsk will be theirs, they are wrong.” “The Donbas will be Ukrainian“, he reiterated. A police chief of the pro-Russian separatist republic of Luhansk, quoted by the Ria Novosti agency, stated that “the city of Severodonetsk is currently surrounded” and that the Ukrainian forces are trapped. But the governor of Luhansk, Serhiy Haidai, He assured by Telegram that it is a mistake to say that the region will fall under “total control of the Russian enemy” in “one, two or three days”. “Most likely they will not” take it, but “perhaps to avoid being surrounded, there could be an order to withdraw our troops“, he admitted.

Referendum if the Kremlin wins

The United Kingdom, which monitors the situation in Ukraine for intelligence sources, had previously warned that if Russia controlled Liman it would be a “advantage in a possible next phase of the offensive in Donbas” with advances towards other cities in the Donetsk province. The city is located on the Donets River and gives control over important bridges and railways. Last Thursday, the president of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic , Denis Pushilinannounced that a referendum would be held if they succeeded in taking all of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.

Meanwhile, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz and French President Emmanuel Macron urged Russian President Vladimir Putin on Saturday to undertake “direct and serious negotiations” with Zelensky. In a tripartite telephone conversation that lasted 80 minutes, the two European leaders “insisted on a immediate ceasefire and a withdrawal of Russian troops,” the German government said in a statement.

Macron and Scholz “urged the Russian president to direct and serious negotiations with the Ukrainian president and a diplomatic solution to the conflict”. The conversation was held at the request of Macron and Scholz, according to the German Executive and focused on “the continuation of the Russian war against Ukraine and the efforts to put an end to it”.

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The German chancellor and the French president also “asked the Russian president to improve the humanitarian situation of the civilian population”. The two Western leaders “took positive note of the Russian President’s commitment to treat captured combatants in accordance with international humanitarian law, in particular the Geneva Conventionand to guarantee unhindered access to the International Committee of the Red Cross”.

“The world food situationparticularly tense because of the war”, was also addressed during the debate. “President Putin assured that he wants to allow the export of cereals from Ukraine, especially by sea,” says the Foreign Ministry. The Russian leader promised that Moscow “does not take advantage of the opening of the mine belt established to protect Ukrainian ports, in order to allow the export of cereals by shipto carry out offensive actions,” says the German chancellery, noting that the three leaders agreed on the “central role” that the United Nations must play to guarantee exports.