Ukraine says it is holding back Russian advance in Donetsk

A little boy cries as he says goodbye to his mother before being evacuated from the city of Sloviansk to the city of Dnipro on Wednesday. Pic/AFP

Ukraine has so far thwarted an attempted Russian advance into the north of its Donetsk region but the city of Sloviansk and other civilian areas are being heavily shelled, Ukrainian officials said on Wednesday.

Russia has increased its focus on Donetsk, the southern part of which it and its proxies already control, after completing its seizure of the neighbouring Luhansk region on Sunday with the capture of Lysychansk.

Moscow says fully pushing the Ukrainian military out of both regions is central to what it calls its "special military operation" to ensure its own security, a now four-months-long offensive which the West calls an unprovoked war of aggression. Donetsk and Luhansk comprise the Donbas, the industrialised eastern part of Ukraine that has seen the biggest battle in Europe for generations and which Russia wants to wrest control of on behalf of Moscow-backed separatists in two self-proclaimed people's republics.

Ukrainian officials said heavy fighting had been taking place as Russian forces tried to push from Luhansk into Donetsk region and towards the city of Sloviansk.

"We are holding back the enemy on the border of Luhansk region and Donetsk region," Luhansk governor Serhiy Gaidai told Ukrainian television. He said Russian regular army and reserve forces had been sent there in an apparent effort to cross the Siverskiy Donets River. "Luhansk region even now is fighting. Almost all the territory has been captured, but in two settlements fighting is ongoing" he said.

Vadym Lyakh, the mayor of Sloviansk, told a video briefing on Wednesday the city had been shelled for the last two weeks. "The situation is tense," he said.

Kharkiv struck yet again

Russian forces also hit Kharkiv with missile strikes overnight, the governor of Kharkiv region Oleh Syniehubov said on Telegram on Wednesday.

Gas storage trouble

Ukraine has 11 billion cubic metres (bcm) of natural gas in underground storage versus a government target of 19 bcm, the head of its gas transmission system operator said on Wednesday.

"This winter will probably be the most difficult in our history," Sergiy Makogon, chief executive of the transmission system operator, told a news briefing. "At the moment in underground storage sites there is around 11 bcm of the 19 (bcm) the cabinet wants." Makogon said before Russia's invasion Ukraine used around 30 bcm a year of gas but that he expected consumption would shrink to around 21-22 bcm a year.

Russian court orders halt to Caspian oil pipeline

Caspian Pipeline Consortium (CPC), which takes oil from Kazakhstan to the Black Sea via one of the world's largest pipelines, has been told by a Russian court to suspend activity for 30 days, although sources said exports were still flowing. CPC, which handles about 1% of global oil, said the ruling related to paperwork on oil spills and said the consortium, which includes U.S. firms Chevron and Exxon, had to abide by it.

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