Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said no one knows how long the war in his country will last but that Ukrainian forces are defying expectations by preventing Russian troops from overrunning Eastern Ukraine.
The Associated PressA Ukrainian serviceman stands in front of a burning vehicle during fighting with Russian troops in Lysychansk, in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region, on Saturday. Lysychansk and Severodonetsk are the last major areas of Luhansk province not under the control of Moscow-backed separatists.
But instead of securing a swift, decisive takeover, Russian forces were drawn into a long, laborious battle, thanks in part to the Ukrainian military's use of Western-supplied weapons.Both Ukrainian and Russian officials said the battle for control of the eastern city of Severodonetsk continues. The city and neighbouring Lysychansk are the last major areas of the Donbas's Luhansk province not under the control of the pro-Russia rebels.
"Severodonetsk is not completely 100 per cent liberated," Pasechnik said Saturday, alleging that the Ukrainians were shelling the city from the Azot plant. "So it's impossible to call the situation calm in Severodonetsk, that it is completely ours."