Russia captures most of Severodonetsk. Russian forces control most of Severodonetsk, head of the Luhansk regional military administration Serhiy Hayday said on the evening of May 31.
Fighting rages inside the city, he added. Severodonetsk has an area of 42 square kilometers and a population of 100,000. In comparison, Mariupol has an area of 166 square kilometers. In May 2014, the city was occupied by Russia-backed militants of the so-called Army of the South-East, Prizrak (Ghost) battalion commanded by Alexey Mozgovoy, and a unit of the “Cossack National Guard” by Pavel Dryomov. Severodonetsk was liberated by Ukrainian troops on July 22, 2014.
There is a catastrophic humanitarian crisis in the city. “Ninety per cent of all buildings are damaged, of which 60 per cent cannot be rebuilt. Critical infrastructure is completely destroyed. Water, gas, and power supply was cut,” the head of the regional military administration said. Evacuation from the city is almost impossible. Humanitarian aid is not brought in.
A Russian airstrike hit a cistern with nitric acid at the chemical plant in Severodonetsk, Hayday said. He called on residents of the region to stay in shelters and prepare protective face masks soaked in soda solution.
Sixth package of sanctions, partial ban of Russian oil. Following long talks, the European Union adopted a political decision to ban oil imports from Russia. Yet there are exceptions for countries that opposed the ban.
The EU temporarily spares pipeline oil from embargo. Supplies of oil through the pipeline “Druzhba” to Central Europe will stay until Hungary, Slovakia, and the Czech Republic find a substitute.
Most of the oil was transported through the pipeline to Poland and Germany, both refused Russian oil voluntarily. Together with the Netherlands, the two countries were the biggest buyers of it. They were getting two-thirds of Russia’s oil imports.
The EU bans seaborne crude oil six months from adoption, while refined petroleum products would be halted in eight months, Bloomberg said.
President of the European Council Charles Michel said the move would “impact 75 per cent of Russian oil imports. And by the end of the year, 90 per cent of the Russian oil imported in Europe will be banned.” Supplies could cost Russia USD 22 billions of dollars a year in lost revenue, Bloomberg said.
Podcast Explaining Ukraine: Why has Russia invaded Ukraine?
What are the causes of the Russian full-scale invasion of Ukraine? Can we find them in the developments of the past decades or in the deeper future? Why is this invasion a sign of Russian weakness? Hosts: Volodymyr Yermolenko, Ukrainian philosopher and journalist, chief editor at UkraineWorld.org, and Tetyana Ogarkova, Ukrainian scholar and journalist who is in charge of international outreach at the Ukraine Crisis Media Centre.
Ukraine in Flames #82: Belarus as a counterpart of Russian aggression. Will the responsibility come?
The regime of Belarusian leader Lukashenko is one of few pillars in the Kremlin’s security policy and military efficiency. The partnership of two sanctioned authoritarian states has reached beyond Russia’s energy supplies and Belarus’ consumer goods since 2014. Without Lukashenko’s logistical help Putin’s army could have a much harder time at the northern border of Ukraine. At the same time, Belarus has not been directly involved in the actual violence, while Belarus society and political opposition passionately condemned the war.
Ukraine in Flames #81: How current Russian war destroys future economy
