Ukraine resists on Donetsk front despite heavy Russian offensive

Ukraine continues to put up heroic resistance to the Russian army's brutal assault following Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukrainian territory on 24 February. The bad news for the invaded country has been growing lately in the face of the steady Russian advance in the Lugansk region, especially in view of the latest Russian seizure of the city of Lisichansk; but the Ukrainian Armed Forces are withstanding the latest onslaught of the invader in the Donetsk area, where Ukrainian resistance is becoming more palpable, despite the fact that 138 days have passed since the Russian invasion began. 

"The Ukrainian resistance has been able to contain the enemy, whose offensive in the region has lost momentum," Lugansk governor Serghiy Gaidai was quoted as saying by Infobae. "The enemy is gathering troops near Belohorivka, shelling the surrounding settlements, conducting air strikes" in Donetsk, Serghiy Gaidai said on the Telegram social network.

Meanwhile, despite the Russian announcements, the Ukrainian side has not yet given up on Lugansk. Ukraine still has "grey areas" despite Russia's claim that it has been taken. The enemy "has not yet been able to occupy all of Lugansk", Gaidai said, as also reported by EFE news agency.

After the capture of Lisichansk, the progress made in Lugansk has not been translated into neighbouring Donetsk, provinces that Vladimir Putin's Russia has already declared independent from Ukraine on the grounds of the large pro-Russian presence in the area.

Russian soldiers are trying to advance towards Siversk, an intermediate point on their way to Sloviansk and Kramatorsk, the most prominent Ukrainian strongholds in Donetsk. The Russian advance is losing momentum at the moment, although the Ukrainian positions continue to be heavily attacked without allowing the option of counter-offensives. 

On the Russian side, it is expected that Ukraine will no longer be able to withstand the Russian onslaught, although the Ukrainian resistance is remarkable. What is not happening at the moment are counter-offensives by the Ukrainian army, which has only limited itself to not losing positions or retreating in the last week. 

Meanwhile, the governor of Kharkov, Oleg Sinegubov, said on his Telegram account that Russian forces shelled the Izium district of the Donetsk region, an attack confirmed by NASA's Fire Information Resource Management Information System (FIRMS), which detected fires in fields northwest of Sloviansk, as also reported by the EFE news agency.

In the town of Chasiv Yar, west of Kramatorsk, a Russian Uragan missile hit a five-storey residential building, Donetsk region governor Pavlo Kirylenko said on Telegram, killing at least 18 civilians. An estimated 24 people were also trapped by the offensive. 

Sinegubov welcomed the fact that the Russians have also failed to advance on Kharkov in recent weeks, saying that "our fighters are defending positions in all directions".

Kharkov is Ukraine's second largest city after the capital Kiev and the Russian army is seeking full control of it, and attacks are intensifying there too, as Ukraine's own president, Volodymyr Zelensky, acknowledged, again drawing attention to the relentless attacks in the Donbas region, where Lugansk and Donetsk are located. "The brutal Russian artillery attacks in the Donbas do not stop for a single day," the Ukrainian president said in a video message. 

Ukraine's request for arms from Western allies remains a constant in order to continue to slow the Russian advance and to be able to strike back if necessary, as it has done on previous occasions. In recent weeks, however, the Ukrainian objective has been more one of resistance. Volodimir Zelenski pointed out on social media that it is only possible to "stop this type of terrorist action with modern and powerful weapons".

Meanwhile, Ukrainian presidential adviser Mykhailo Podoliak also called on the social network Twitter for more arms aid to bring about a "turning point" to change the course of the war. 

On the other hand, the US has already announced that it will send Ukraine more military aid, including powerful rocket launchers and precision-guided howitzers. According to a senior Pentagon official, the new $400 million in US military aid - which includes four Himar multiple rocket launcher systems and 155mm shells - will improve Ukraine's ability to attack Russian military weapons depots and supply chains, as reported by Euronews. 

The US giant also indicated that it will send more than $360 million in additional humanitarian assistance to Ukraine for food, clean water, economic aid and shelter.

The Lithuanian government on Monday announced new restrictions on the transit of goods through the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad, Reuters quoted a Baltic customs spokesman as saying. 

Among the goods affected are concrete, wood and alcohol, the source said. Lithuania's blockade of Kaliningrad has opened a new confrontation between Russia and the European Union. At the end of June, Lithuania decided to limit trade to Russian territory because of European sanctions, and Moscow warned of a response with a "serious negative impact" on the Baltic country's population.