An official reported that Russia controls about 80 percent of the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk and has cut off three bridges leading out of the metropolis.
Ukrainians are trying to evacuate the wounded, but Serhiy Haidai, governor of the eastern Luhansk region, said a mass evacuation was “simply not possible” because of the fighting “and heavy artillery the Russians are using.”
“There is still an opportunity for the evacuation of the wounded, communication with the Ukrainian military and local residents,” Haidai said, according to the Associated Press.
Haidai also said about 12,000 people are in Sievierodonetsk, and some 500 civilians are sheltering in a chemical plant.
Most recently, some 70 civilians have been evacuated from the Luhansk region.
A Russian official, however, said this week that they will open a humanitarian corridor this week to evacuate civilians from the Azot chemical plant.
Aid organizations are also facing roadblocks in supplying food to civilians in Sievierodonetsk. Jan Egeland, the secretary-general of the Norwegian Refugee Council, said the city is “almost entirely cut off from aid supplies after the destruction of the last bridge.”
“The losses, unfortunately, are painful, but we have to hold out,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Tuesday in his nightly video address. “The more losses the enemy suffers there, the less strength it will have to continue the aggression. Therefore, the Donbas is key to determining who will dominate in the coming weeks.”
Zelenskyy has asked Western nations to send more arms and anti-missile defense systems.
Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said the military has only received about 10 percent of the weapons it has requested.
“No matter how much effort Ukraine makes, no matter how professional our army, without the help of Western partners, we will not be able to win this war,” said Malyar during a televised news conference.
“And therefore, unfortunately, we cannot wait very long because the situation is very difficult,” she added.
Related:
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Samaritan’s Purse Airlifts Ukrainian Refugees to Canada: ‘We Can Have Hope Again’
Photo courtesy: ©Getty Images/Sandsun
Amanda Casanova is a writer living in Dallas, Texas. She has covered news for ChristianHeadlines.com since 2014. She has also contributed to The Houston Chronicle, U.S. News and World Report and IBelieve.com. She blogs at The Migraine Runner.
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