The Washington Post - USA (2022-06-12)

A10 EZ RE THE WASHINGTON POST.SUNDAY, JUNE 12 , 2022

war in ukraine

BY DAN LAMOTHE

AND CLAIRE PARKER

Russia is likely to seize control
of the entire Luhansk region of
Ukraine within a few weeks, a
senior U.S. defense official said, as
Ukraine sustains heavy casualties
and its supplies of ammunition
dwindle.
Such a move would leave Russia
short of its war aims of capturing
all of Luhansk and Donetsk, which
together make up the Donbas re-
gion of eastern Ukraine. But it
would still amount to a win for
Russian forces and create a new de
facto front line that could last for
some time.
The Ukrainian cities of Severo-
donetsk and Lysychansk, in Lu-
hansk, are increasingly under du-
ress and could fall to Russian forc-
es within a week, the official said,
speaking on the condition of ano-
nymity because of the sensitivity
of the issue.
Fierce street fighting continued
Saturday in Severodonetsk, a stra-
tegic city near the Donets river.
Ukrainian forces control a third of

the city, Mayor Alexander Stryuk

told the BBC’s Ukrainian service.

Russian troops had not been

able to make advances in the city’s

south as of Friday, according to the

latest intelligence update from

Britain’s Defense Ministry, re-

leased Saturday. But they are com-

bining artillery firepower with air-

strikes to overwhelm Ukrainian

defenses, the ministry said.

Ukraine has called for faster deliv-

eries of Western arms to its out-

gunned military.

Russia’s progress remains in-

cremental overall and is coming at

great cost to its own forces in

terms of deaths and injuries, the

U.S. defense official said.

Ukrainian forces have been

fighting a very effective “mobile

area defense,” in which Russia

presses forward with its assault as

Ukrainian forces fall back, only for

Ukrainian forces to then rebound

and take back land.

“The Ukrainians are doing a

really good job here,” the U.S. offi-

cial said.

Ukrainian troops pushed on

with a counteroffensive in the

Kherson region Saturday, retak-

ing full control of the village of

Tavriis’ke, the Kherson city coun-

cil said in a Facebook post. The

claim could not be independently

verified.

Roughly 10,000 Ukrainian sol-

diers have been killed since the

Russian invasion began, Oleksiy

Arestovych, a military adviser to

Ukrainian President Volodymyr

Zelensky, said Saturday. At least

200 to 300 Ukrainian soldiers are

being killed each day, he said,

though he claimed Russia has suf-

fered even greater losses since

February. The Washington Post

could not immediately verify the

figures.

Zelensky said Saturday that it

was “too late” to persuade Russia

to end its invasion, calling on the

world to avoid compromise with

Moscow and take stronger action

against Russia.

Zelensky’s comments, deliv-

ered via video at the Shangri-La

Dialogue, an annual security sum-

mit in Singapore, came a week

after French President Emmanuel

Macron sparked the ire of Ukraine

and Eastern European allies when

he said it was crucial not to “hu-

miliate” Russia, to preserve the

option of a diplomatic resolution

to the conflict.

Paris appeared to be doing dam-

age control Friday, with a presiden-

tial official telling reporters that

France wants a Ukrainian victory

and was unwilling to make conces-

sions to Russia, Reuters reported.

European Commission Presi-

dent Ursula von der Leyen traveled

to Kyiv on Saturday on an unan-

nounced visit. She was expected to

discuss Ukraine’s desire to join the

European Union with Zelensky.

Ukraine hopes to obtain “candidate

status,” an early step on what is

usually a long path to E.U. member-

ship. The commission is expected

to make a recommendation on

Ukraine’s status this week.

European Parliament Presi-

dent Roberta Metsola said Friday

that the bloc’s legislative body sup-

ports Ukraine’s bid. But rifts have

emerged between Central Euro-

pean countries and Baltic states,

which support swift action on

Ukraine’s candidacy, and Western

European countries that are more

reluctant to fast-track the process

for a country with a history of

corruption. Some E.U. diplomats

said membership for Ukraine

might be decades away.

Rare tension appeared to sur-

face between the United States

and Ukraine early in the weekend,

after President Biden said Zel-

ensky “didn’t want to hear it”

when U.S. intelligence officials

warned of a Russian attack before

the Feb. 24 invasion.

Biden spoke about the United

States’ commitment to Ukraine at

a Democratic fundraising event in

Los Angeles on Friday night, the

Associated Press reported. “Noth-

ing like this has happened since

World War II,” he said.

Ukrainian officials rejected

Biden’s account that his adminis-

tration’s warnings had fallen on

deaf ears in Kyiv. Zelensky adviser

Mykhailo Podolyak told the Ukrai-

nian news website LIGA.net that

Ukraine knew Russia was plan-

ning to invade but that uncertain-

ty had remained over the scale of

any attack.

The White House declined to

comment.

Anxiety over the ramifications

of the conflict for global food secu-

rity continued to mount, with Ger-

many’s agriculture minister ac-

cusing Russia of using starvation

as a weapon.

Cem Özdemir decried the “par-

ticularly disgusting kind of war-

fare” on a German television news

program. Moscow continues to

blockade Ukraine’s Black Sea

ports, preventing the export of

millions of tons of grain to coun-

tries around the world.

Meanwhile, in the Russian-con-

trolled city of Kherson, the first 23

Russian passports were presented

to Ukrainian citizens in a cer-

emony Saturday, Russian state

media reported. Kremlin-in-

stalled authorities have offered ex-

pedited Russian passports to resi-

dents of the Kherson area and

Russia-controlled parts of the

Zaporizhzhia region.

Ukrainian and Western offi-

cials fear Moscow intends to an-

nex the captured areas. Over the

past two years, Russia has distrib-

uted passports to Ukrainians liv-

ing in separatist-controlled parts

of eastern Ukraine in an apparent

effort to create the conditions to

justify the fresh invasion.

Russia has taken a number of

other measures to exert adminis-

trative and cultural control over

the Ukrainian regions it has occu-

pied.

Russian officials are reportedly

planning to train teachers in east-

ern Ukraine using Russian curric-

ulums, according to the pro-Mos-

cow Ukrainian news site Strana.

And occupation authorities in

Mariupol, the southern port city

Russian forces captured last

month, have begun introducing

Russian textbooks into schools,

Petro Andryushchenko, an advis-

er to the Ukraine-backed mayor of

Mariupol, wrote on Telegram on

Friday.

But occupation authorities still

struggle to provide basic services,

including medical care, to resi-

dents, the Washington-based In-

stitute for the Study of War report-

ed Friday.

David L. Stern in Mukachevo, Ukraine,

Timothy Bella in Washington, Victoria

Bisset and Ellen Francis in London,

and Katerina Ang and Amy Cheng in

Seoul contributed to this report.

Russia likely to seize all of Luhansk region soon, U.S. o∞cial says

ARIS MESSINIS/AGENCE FRANCE-PRESSE/GETTY IMAGES

A damaged building is pictured in Lysychansk as smoke and dirt rise from the nearby city of Severodonetsk in eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk region on Friday during battle between Russia and Ukraine.

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