Ukrainian troops struggle to hold back Russian advance in east

Oleksandr Motuzyanyk, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Defense Ministry, said that local forces continued to put up a fierce defense in Severodonetsk but acknowledged that Russian troops control the city center. He said Russian gains were made possible by the use of heavy artillery and air power. “Russian forces continue to use tactics from the time of the Second World War,” he said.

U.S. officials believe Severodonetsk could fall within days, paving the way for Russia to complete its control of Luhansk, one of two governates in the Donbas region, in the coming weeks. If that occurs, it would represent a major turnaround for Moscow after the early months of the war, when Russian troops failed to capture the capital Kyiv and other key areas of central Ukraine…

As some of Ukraine’s backers in the West consider what the terms of a negotiated settlement might be, Zelensky has shown little openness to concessions by Kyiv, promising to liberate cities such as Kherson and Mariupol, and also Yalta, on the Russian-annexed Crimean peninsula.

“It only takes enough weapons to make it happen,” he said. “The partners have it in sufficient quantities. And we work every day for the political will to give us these weapons to appear.”