Ukraine pleads for more weapons as European leaders expected in Kyiv

Ukraine said it urgently needed more weapons to fend off Russian advances in the south and the east, an appeal aimed at the West as the leaders of Germany, France and Italy are expected to visit Kyiv on Thursday.

Moscow has focused most of its firepower on the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk while also trying to consolidate control over southern territory encompassing the strategic city of Kherson, north of the Black Sea.

Ukrainian soldiers are fighting to retake ground in wheat fields and empty villages along a deserted motorway between the city of Mykolaiv and Russian-occupied Kherson.

Major-General Dmytro Marchenko, who leads Ukraine’s forces in Mykolaiv, said his troops could achieve victory over Russia if they are given the right weapons.

“It is clear that this will not end soon. But then again, if we are given all the weapons that we need, the counter-offensive could well be over by the end of the summer,” Marchenko told US-backed broadcaster Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.

Kherson fell to Russian forces in March, soon after Moscow attacked on Feb. 24 in what it describes as a “special military operation” to disarm and “denazify” Ukraine. Kyiv and its allies call this a baseless pretext for a crisis that his killed thousands and uprooted millions.

Sievierodonetsk

After being pushed back from the outskirts of Kyiv in May, Russia’s troops have focused their efforts on capturing the entirety of the Donbas, an industrial region where fighting has focused in recent weeks on Sievierodonetsk, now largely in ruins.

Russian President Vladimir Putin appears intent on asserting complete control over the Donbas, parts of which are held by Moscow-backed separatists in Luhansk and Donetsk provinces.

Ukrainian troops holed up alongside civilians in a Sievierodonetsk chemical plant ignored a Russian ultimatum to lay down their arms on Wednesday. The city’s mayor, Oleksandr Stryuk, says Ukrainian troops were still defending the city, even though all of its river bridges have been destroyed.

Ukraine says more than 500 civilians, including 40 children, remain alongside soldiers inside the Azot chemical factory, sheltering from weeks of Russian bombardment. Separatists in the area say up to 1,200 civilians may be inside.

Moscow said it had opened a humanitarian corridor from Azot on Wednesday to allow civilians to escape to Russian-controlled territory. It accused Ukraine’s forces of disrupting that plan and using civilians as human shields, which Kyiv denies.

“There are no obstacles for civilians to leave... except for the decision in principle by the Kyiv authorities themselves,” Russia’s defence ministry said in a statement. Reuters was unable to verify that claim.

Serhiy Gaidai, governor of the Luhansk region, said Ukraine’s army was defending Sievierodonetsk and trying to stop Russian forces from taking its twin city Lysychansk on the opposite bank of the Siverskyi Donets river.

Reuters could not immediately verify the battlefield accounts.

Arms packages

Leaders, including US President Joe Biden, have announced new arms packages for Ukraine in recent days, following appeals by Kyiv for help on the eastern and southern fronts.

On Friday, the European Commission is due to make a recommendation on Ukraine’s status as an EU candidate, something the biggest European nations have been lukewarm about.