On Thursday, June 9, Ukrainian forces in the east continue to defend the smaller part of the strategic city of Severodonetsk, while troops in in the south report of destroying Russian ammunition depots and soldiers. Russia has said it would not use situation for military gains, if Ukraine reduces its Black Sea port defences, while the European Parliament (EP) has expressed its backing to granting Ukraine the status of an EU candidate state, according to Ukrinform, the Institute for the Study of War, BBC and Nexta TV.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has evaluated that the ongoing Donbas battle with its epicentre around the city of Severodonetsk could decide the fate of the country’s east.
The chief of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration Serhiy Haidai described the situation in the eastern part of Luhansk Region, which has been the centre of Russia’s invading efforts for over a month now. «The enemies continue making unsuccessful attempts to find weak spots in the defence of Severodonetsk, while firing on residential neighbourhoods and industrial facilities in Luhansk region. On the evening of June 8, they twice hit the Azot factory in Severodonetsk. At least two workshops at different ends of the chemical plant were damaged. One of them is an ammonia production workshop,» wrote Haidai on Facebook as quoted by Ukrinform.
Not less than four residents of the region were killed. One of them is a man from Severodonetsk, who received fatal injuries on June 6. The Russian attacks took the lives of three Lysychansk residents – a man and two women, Haidai noted.
Recently, six Lysychansk residents have been injured and four of them have been immediately taken to a clinical hospital in the city of Dnipro. Due to artillery shelling of Lysychansk, a woman was killed and her daughter was injured, the head of the the Luhansk Regional Military Administration claimed.
On Thursday, June 8, according to the Ukrainian side, the Russian army fired mortars, artillery, and MLRS on Sievierodonetsk, Lysychansk, Pryvillia, Orikhove, Ustynivka, Hirske, Katerynivka, Bilohorivka, Mykolaivka, Komyshuvakha, and Pavlohrad outside Sievierodonetsk in the Luhansk Region.
The US Institute for the Study of War commented that Russian forces are escalating psychological and information operations to damage the morale of Ukrainian soldiers and continued assaults against Ukrainian positions in Severodonetsk.
Fighting around Kherson continues
In the southern part of the front line stretching from the Zaporizhya Region and around the administrative border of the Kherson Region to the coast of the Black Sea, Ukrainian forces have liberated Blahodatne, according to journalist Roman Bochkala and Institute for the Study of War.
The Southern Operational Command of the Ukrainian Armed Forces reported that the Ukrainian military eliminated 30 Russian invaders, six units of equipment, and three ammunition depots over the past 24 hours.
«The enemy continues to fight on the occupied lines of defence. The predominant tactics are artillery and mortar duels, but sometimes the enemy resorts to gunfights, trying to physically push Ukrainian units out of their positions. The enemies have no success. They retreat, leaving the killed, wounded and damaged equipment. The army aircraft launched two strikes on the clusters of enemy forces and one of their strongholds in Kherson region,» the report reads.
The missile and artillery units eliminated 30 Russian invaders, two armoued personnel vehicles, and four vehicles. Moreover, three field ammunition depots were destroyed in different places, in the Kherson Region, The Southern Operational Command claimed.
No tangible result from Russia-Turkey talks on grain exports
As Russia continues the blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports, which has caused a food crisis in countries traditionally buying grain and sunflower oil from Ukraine, the talks between Russia and Turkey on a sea-route corridor from the ports have brought no tangible result.
Russian Foreign Ministry Sergei Lavrov has said that Russia guarantees that if Kyiv demines the ports, Moscow will not use this situation for military purposes.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has not said Ukraine would believe this. «It is the Russian fleet – not the British one or any other – that has blocked Ukraine’s Black Sea ports so that the world is on the brink of a terrible food crisis. And it’s not simply a price crisis. We cannot export our wheat, corn, vegetable oil and other products that have played a stabilizing role in the global market. This means that, unfortunately, dozens of countries may face a physical shortage of food. Millions of people may starve if Russia’s blockade of the Black Sea continues,» Zelenskyy said in an address to the US event of TIME100 Gala.
Watch Zelenskyy’s latest video address.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has noted the sought to find a deal «that allows for the safe export» of Ukrainian-produced food through the Black Sea.
MEP’s favour candidate status to Ukraine
During a visit to the European Parliament by the Chairman of the Verkhovna Rada of Ukraine, Ruslan Stefanchuk, EU legislators have voiced their support to granting the EU candidate status to Ukraine. «Ukraine’s place is in the European family,» noted Roberta Metsola, the head of the European Parliament.