Russia-Ukraine live updates | Human cost of Severodonetsk fight ‘terrifying’, says Zelensky

Here are the latest developments from the ongoing Russia-Ukraine conflict

Ukraine said on June 13 that its forces had been pushed back from the centre of key industrial city Severodonetsk, where President Volodymyr Zelensky described a fight for “literally every metre”. The cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, which are separated by a river, have been targeted for weeks as the last areas still under Ukrainian control in the eastern Lugansk region.

Russian forces cut off the last routes for evacuating citizens from the eastern Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk, a Ukrainian official said, as the Kremlin pushed for victory in the Donbas region. The last bridge to the city was destroyed, trapping any remaining civilians and making it impossible to deliver humanitarian supplies, said regional governor Sergei Gaidai, adding that some 70% of the city was under Russian control.

On June 12, Russian forces fired cruise missiles to destroy a large depot containing U.S. and European weapons in western Ukraine's Ternopil region, Interfax reported, as street fighting raged in the eastern city of Severodonetsk. The governor of the Ternopil region said a rocket attack on the city of Chortkiv fired from the Black Sea had partly destroyed a military facility, injuring 22 people.

Ukraine has lost a quarter of its arable land in certain regions since Russia’s invasion, notably in the south and east, the deputy agriculture minister said June 13 but insisted its food security was not threatened.

“Despite the loss of 25% of arable land, the structure of crop planting this year is more than sufficient” to ensure food for the population, Taras Vysotskiy told a news conference, saying it “does not pose a threat to Ukraine’s food security”. - AFP

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on June 13 said the battle for Severodonetsk was taking a “terrifying” toll as Russian forces threaten to take the strategic eastern city.

“The human cost of this battle is very high for us. It is simply terrifying,” Mr. Zelensky said on Telegram in his daily address to the Ukrainian people. “The battle for the Donbas will, without doubt, be remembered in military history as one of the most violent battles in Europe,” he added. - AFP