Ukrainian Official Warns Of Disaster In The Occupied City

Governor Serhiy Haidai said the Russians were firing indiscriminate artillery barrages as they tried to secure gains in eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk province. Moscow this week claimed full control of Luhansk, but the governor and other Ukrainian officials said their troops held a small part of the province. “Luhansk has not been fully captured, even though the Russians have committed their entire arsenal to achieving that goal,” Heidai told The Associated Press. “Fierce fighting is taking place in several villages on the border of the area. The Russians are relying on tanks and artillery to advance, leaving scorched earth.” Russian forces are “hitting any building that they think could be a fortified position,” he said. “They are not hindered by the fact that citizens live there and die in their homes and yards. They keep shooting.” Occupied Sievierodonetsk, meanwhile, “stands on the brink of a humanitarian disaster,” the governor wrote on social media. “The Russians have completely destroyed all critical infrastructure and are unable to repair anything.” Haidai said last week that about 8,000 residents remained in the city, which had a pre-war population of 100,000. Some Ukrainian officials and soldiers said Russian forces leveled Severodonetsk, the administrative center of Luhansk province, before Ukrainian troops were ordered out of the city late last month to avoid encirclement and capture. Luhansk is one of two provinces that make up the Donbass, Ukraine’s industrial mining and factory region. Pro-Moscow separatists have fought Ukraine’s army in Donbas for eight years and declared themselves independent republics, which Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized before sending troops into Ukraine. After claiming full control of Luhansk, Putin said Russian forces would have a chance to rest and recover, but other areas of eastern Ukraine have come under sustained Russian bombardment. The Russian leader warned the Ukrainian government in Kyiv that it must quickly accept Moscow’s terms or prepare for the worst. “Everyone should know that, to a large extent, we haven’t even started anything seriously,” Putin said while speaking to leaders of the Kremlin-controlled parliament on Thursday. Ukraine’s presidential office said early Friday that at least 12 civilians had been killed and 30 wounded by Russian shelling in the past 24 hours. Two towns in Donetsk – the other Donbas province – saw the heaviest barrage, with six people killed and 21 injured. In northeastern Ukraine, four more people were killed and nine wounded in Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, where Russian shelling hit residential areas. Commenting on Putin’s ominous statement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian leader was reacting to statements by the Ukrainian government and its Western allies about Russia’s defeat on the battlefield. “Russia’s capabilities are so great that only a small part of them was used in the special military operation,” Peskov told reporters. “And so the Western statements are completely absurd and only add to the grief of the Ukrainian people.” Russia’s war in Ukraine, now in its fifth month, has driven millions from their homes, killed untold thousands and shattered European security painstakingly rebuilt after World War II. It has also rippled through the global economy contributing to higher food and fuel prices. Ukraine has been unable to export millions of tons of grain and other food, and Russia faces international sanctions for its invasion. Iryna Venediktova, Ukraine’s attorney general, told the AP that her country has so far registered 22,000 cases related to alleged Russian war crimes – including rape, torture and murder – and an estimated 200 to 300 new cases are registered each day. . “We need to gather the evidence quickly,” Benediktova said, indicating that the numbers could be even higher – mainly because of the lack of access in some parts of the country. “It is clear that prosecutors cannot work entirely in the Donetsk region, and the army will not allow it.” In other developments on Friday: — The Biden administration said it would send an additional $400 million in military equipment to Ukraine, including four more advanced missile systems. A senior defense official said the weapons would bolster Ukraine’s efforts to strike deeper behind Russian lines in the eastern Donbass region. — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to the southern Dnipropetrovsk region, where he met with soldiers and visited a hospital where wounded soldiers are being treated. He said in his nightly video address that he went to personally express his gratitude to those defending Ukraine and also to the doctors and nurses saving the lives of wounded soldiers and civilians. — The German parliament overwhelmingly approved the requests of Sweden and Finland to join NATO. German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said joining the two countries would significantly strengthen NATO’s northern and eastern flanks, noting their strong naval forces in the Baltic Sea and their land forces that are familiar with the region bordering Russia. He suggested that Putin’s efforts to divide and destroy NATO had failed. “Bet on our weakness,” he said. “Now it has the opposite.” All 30 member states must agree before the Western military alliance can accept Finland and Sweden. — A court in Moscow sentenced a Russian city council member who had publicly criticized the war in Ukraine to seven years in prison on charges of “knowingly spreading false information” about the Russian military. Alexei Gorinov, 60, criticized Russia’s military actions in Ukraine at a meeting in March. A legal aid group said he is the first person to be ordered to serve a prison sentence under a law that makes it illegal to discredit the Russian military. Russia’s parliament rubber-stamped the law, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, a week after the Kremlin sent troops to Ukraine. — Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Ukrainian forces have advanced near the Russian-held southern city of Kherson. Meanwhile, the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said Ukrainian guerrillas blew up a railway bridge 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of Melitopol, which lies east of Kherson, on Thursday to disrupt Russian supply operations. — On the energy front, the leaders of Greece and Bulgaria inaugurated a new pipeline that will bring natural gas from Azerbaijan to Bulgaria, whose vital supply of Russian gas was cut off in April. And in Germany, energy supply giant Uniper said it is asking the government for a bailout amid a growing gas crisis due to the war in Ukraine. ——— Murru reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Cara Anna in Kyiv, Ukraine, Lolita C. Baldor in Washington and Associated Press reporters from across Europe contributed to this report. ——— Follow AP’s coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war at

title: “Ukrainian Official Warns Of Disaster In The Occupied City " ShowToc: true date: “2022-12-05” author: “James Palmer”

Governor Serhiy Haidai said the Russians were firing indiscriminate artillery barrages as they tried to secure gains in eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk province. Moscow this week claimed full control of Luhansk, but the governor and other Ukrainian officials said their troops held a small part of the province. “Luhansk has not been fully captured, even though the Russians have committed their entire arsenal to achieving that goal,” Heidai told The Associated Press. “Fierce fighting is taking place in many villages on the borders of the region. The Russians are relying on tanks and artillery to advance, leaving scorched earth.” Russian forces are “hitting any building that they think could be a fortified position,” he said. “They are not hindered by the fact that citizens live there and die in their homes and yards. They keep shooting.” Occupied Sievierodonetsk, meanwhile, “stands on the brink of a humanitarian disaster,” the governor wrote on social media. “The Russians have completely destroyed all critical infrastructure and are unable to repair anything.” Haidai said last week that about 8,000 residents remained in the city, which had a pre-war population of 100,000. Some Ukrainian officials and soldiers said Russian forces leveled Severodonetsk, the administrative center of Luhansk province, before Ukrainian troops were ordered out of the city late last month to avoid encirclement and capture. Luhansk is one of two provinces that make up the Donbass, Ukraine’s industrial mining and factory region. Pro-Moscow separatists have fought Ukraine’s army in Donbas for eight years and declared themselves independent republics, which Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized before sending troops into Ukraine. After claiming full control of Luhansk, Putin said Russian forces would have a chance to rest and recover, but other areas of eastern Ukraine have come under sustained Russian bombardment. The Russian leader warned the Ukrainian government in Kyiv that it must quickly accept Moscow’s terms or prepare for the worst. “Everyone should know that, to a large extent, we haven’t even started anything seriously,” Putin said while speaking to leaders of the Kremlin-controlled parliament on Thursday. Ukraine’s presidential office said early Friday that at least 12 civilians had been killed and 30 wounded by Russian shelling in the past 24 hours. Two towns in Donetsk – the other Donbas province – saw the heaviest barrage, with six people killed and 21 injured. In northeastern Ukraine, four more people were killed and nine wounded in Kharkiv, the country’s second-largest city, where Russian shelling hit residential areas. Commenting on Putin’s ominous statement, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said the Russian leader was reacting to statements by the Ukrainian government and its Western allies about Russia’s defeat on the battlefield. “Russia’s potential is so great that only a small part of it has been used in the special military operation,” Peskov told reporters. “And so the statements of the West are completely absurd and only add to the grief of the Ukrainian people.” Russia’s war in Ukraine, now in its fifth month, has driven millions from their homes, killed untold thousands and shattered European security painstakingly rebuilt after World War II. It has also rippled through the global economy contributing to higher food and fuel prices. Ukraine has been unable to export millions of tons of grain and other food, and Russia faces international sanctions for its invasion. Iryna Venediktova, Ukraine’s attorney general, told the AP that her country has so far registered 22,000 cases related to alleged Russian war crimes – including rape, torture and murder – and an estimated 200 to 300 new cases are registered each day. . “We need to gather the evidence quickly,” Benediktova said, indicating that the numbers could be even higher – mainly because of the lack of access in some parts of the country. “It is clear that prosecutors cannot work entirely in the Donetsk region, and the army will not allow it.” In other developments on Friday: — The Biden administration said it would send an additional $400 million in military equipment to Ukraine, including four more advanced missile systems. A senior defense official said the weapons would bolster Ukraine’s efforts to strike deeper behind Russian lines in the eastern Donbass region. — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy traveled to the southern Dnipropetrovsk region, where he met with soldiers and visited a hospital where wounded soldiers are being treated. He said in his nightly video address that he went to personally express his gratitude to those defending Ukraine and also to the doctors and nurses saving the lives of wounded soldiers and civilians. — The German parliament overwhelmingly approved the requests of Sweden and Finland to join NATO. German Defense Minister Christine Lambrecht said joining the two countries would significantly strengthen NATO’s northern and eastern flanks, noting their strong naval forces in the Baltic Sea and their land forces that are familiar with the region bordering Russia. He suggested that Putin’s efforts to divide and destroy NATO had failed. “Bet on our weakness,” he said. “Now it has the opposite.” All 30 member states must agree before the Western military alliance can accept Finland and Sweden. — A court in Moscow sentenced a Russian city council member who had publicly criticized the war in Ukraine to seven years in prison on charges of “knowingly spreading false information” about the Russian military. Alexei Gorinov, 60, criticized Russia’s military actions in Ukraine at a meeting in March. A legal aid group said he is the first person to be ordered to serve a prison sentence under a law that makes it illegal to discredit the Russian military. Russia’s parliament rubber-stamped the law, which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison, a week after the Kremlin sent troops to Ukraine. — Britain’s Ministry of Defense said Ukrainian forces have advanced near the Russian-held southern city of Kherson. Meanwhile, the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War said Ukrainian guerrillas blew up a railway bridge 25 kilometers (15 miles) north of Melitopol, which lies east of Kherson, on Thursday to disrupt Russian supply operations. — On the energy front, the leaders of Greece and Bulgaria inaugurated a new pipeline that will bring natural gas from Azerbaijan to Bulgaria, whose vital supply of Russian gas was cut off in April. And in Germany, energy supply giant Uniper said it is asking the government for a bailout amid a growing gas crisis due to the war in Ukraine.

Murru reported from Kyiv, Ukraine. Cara Anna in Kyiv, Ukraine, Lolita C. Baldor in Washington and Associated Press reporters from across Europe contributed to this report.

Follow AP’s coverage of the Russia-Ukraine war at