Russia’s army escalated its attacks in Donetsk as the Kremlin strives to capture more of the Donbas region.
In the past day, shelling has killed at least seven civilians in Ukraine, officials said Wednesday. Pro-Russia separatists said attacks by Ukrainian forces killed four civilians.
With Russian troops closing in on the city of Sloviansk, the British Defense Ministry said in a tweet that a battle for that city could be “the next key contest in the struggle for the Donbas.”
Gov. Pavlo Kyrylenko said in a Telegram post that two people died in the city of Avdiivka, which is located in the center of the province, and the Donetsk cities of Sloviansk, Krasnohorivka and Kurakhove each reported one civilian killed.
“Every crime will be punished,” he wrote.
Kyrylenko urged the province’s more than 350,000 remaining residents to flee late Tuesday, saying that evacuating Donetsk was necessary to save lives and allow the Ukrainian army to put up a better defense against the Russian advance.
In Brussels, European Commission leader Ursula von der Leyen cautioned that the EU must consider a future without access to Russian gas.
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Russia tightens grip in Luhansk: British Defense
The British Ministry of Defense said Wednesday on Twitter that the Kremlin “likely continues to consolidate its control over Lysychansk and Luhansk Oblast.”
Russian troops from its eastern and western forces are closing in on the town of Sloviansk, which could be the next “key contest” in the battle for the Donbas.
The ministry said Russian forces are meeting with “determined Ukrainian opposition” as they move toward the eastern Ukrainian city of Izium.
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A Europe without Russian gas?
BRUSSELS — European Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen said Wednesday that the 27-nation European Union needs to make emergency plans to prepare for a complete cut-off of Russian gas in the wake of the Kremlin’s war in Ukraine.
“It is obvious: (Russian President Vladimir) Putin continues to use energy as a weapon. This is why the Commission is working on a European emergency plan,” she told legislators in Strasbourg, France.
The EU has already imposed sanctions on Russia, including on some energy supplies, and is steering away from Kremlin-controlled deliveries. But the head of the EU’s executive branch said the bloc needed to be ready for shock disruptions coming from Moscow, and said the first plans would be presented by the middle of the month.
“If worst comes to worst, then we have to be prepared,” she said, hoping to avoid the chaotic scenes, and the my-country-first attitude that some member states showed early on in the COVID-19 pandemic response.
–Associated Press
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George is Digismak’s reported cum editor with 13 years of experience in Journalism