European Leaders In Kyiv In Show Of Solidarity With Ukraine As Fighting Rages In East

Russian forces intensified their assault on Syevyerodonetsk in an attempt to take the key city in the eastern region of Donbas as the leaders of three European powers arrived in Kyiv in a highly symbolic gesture of solidarity with Ukraine in the face of Moscow’s relentless onslaught.

The French president’s office said President Emmanuel Macron, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz, and Italian Premier Mario Draghi had traveled to Kyiv together from Poland, and Romanian President Klaus Iohannis will join them in the Ukrainian capital.

Speaking to reporters upon arrival in Kyiv, Macron said the leaders of the European Union’s largest three economies will pass on a message of “European solidarity” to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy.

Ukraine has criticized France, Germany and, to a lesser extent, Italy, for alleged hesitations in their support for Kyiv, accusing them of being slow to deliver weapons.

On the battlefield, the head of Ukraine’s military said Russia had concentrated its main strike forces in the north of the Luhansk region and that they were trying to attack simultaneously in nine directions.

“The fierce struggle for Luhansk region continues,” Valeriy Zaluzhny, commander-in-chief of the armed forces, said in an online message. The Russians were using aircraft, rocket-propelled grenades, and artillery, Zaluzhny added.

Fighting for Syevyerodonetsk has raged for weeks as Russia advances in the Donbas region. Capturing Syevyerodonetsk — the largest city in Luhansk still under Ukrainian control — would allow Moscow’s forces to advance on Slovyansk and Kramatorsk further west.

The British Defense Ministry said in its daily intelligence bulletin early on June 16 that, while the situation continues to be extremely difficult for the defenders of Syevyerodonetsk, Ukraine has probably managed to withdraw a large proportion of its combat troops who were originally holding the town.

The British intelligence also pointed to the likely difficulties Russia has in replenishing its troops fallen on the battleground.

“As claimed by the Ukrainian authorities, some Russian Battalion Tactical Groups (BTGs) — typically established at around 600 to 800 personnel — have been able to muster as few as 30 soldiers,” the bulletin said.

It added that Moscow’s advantage in numbers of tanks and artillery becomes less relevant in the urban-warfare environment, slowing the Russian forces’ advance.

U.S. General Mark Milley, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said on June 15 that despite Russian forces outnumbering and outgunning the Ukrainian forces in the Donbas region, Russian consolidation of their control in eastern Ukraine was “not a done deal.”

Milley, quoted by CNN, said “the numbers clearly favor the Russians.” But he added, “There are no inevitabilities in war. War takes many, many turns. So I wouldn’t say it’s an inevitability.”

The United Nations has warned that some 12,000 civilians remain trapped in Syevyerodonetsk with essential supplies running out, and many of them are sheltering in bunkers beneath the city’s Azot chemical plant.

“The lack of water and sanitation is a big worry. It’s a huge concern for us because people cannot survive for long without water,” UN Humanitarian Affairs office spokesman Saviano Abreu told the BBC, adding that food and medical supplies were also running out in the city.

Russia had told Ukrainian defenders holed up in the Azot chemical plant in the city to give up their “senseless resistance and lay down arms” early on June 15, promising a humanitarian corridor for the civilians sheltering in the plant together with the fighters.

Kyiv has ignored the ultimatum.

The United States on June 15 announced additional weapons packages for Ukraine valued at around $1 billion.

U.S. President Joe Biden said he informed Zelenskiy about the assistance in a phone call.

The weapons packages include 18 howitzers, 36,000 rounds of ammunition for them, two Harpoon coastal defense systems, artillery rockets, secure radios, thousands of night-vision devices, and funding for training, the Pentagon said.

Zelenskiy has called both for more heavy weapons and further EU sanctions against Russia.

Speaking ahead of a June 15 gathering of NATO defense ministers in Brussels, alliance chief Jens Stoltenberg said there is an “urgent need” to send Kyiv more advanced weaponry but cautioned that familiarizing the Ukrainian military with such weapons systems takes time.

“Ukraine is really in a very critical situation and therefore there’s an urgent need to step up,” Stoltenberg told journalists.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin told dozens of defense ministers from the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Brussels that the West must step up weapons deliveries and “push ourselves even harder to ensure that Ukraine can defend itself, its citizens, and its territory.”