Russian forces said Sunday they had struck a site in western Ukraine storing US- and EU-supplied weapons, as fighting intensified in an eastern region where the country's top commander said the land "is covered in blood."

The strike on the town of Chortkiv, a rare attack by Russia in the relatively calm west of Ukraine, left 22 people injured, the regional governor said.

Meanwhile, the situation in Severodonetsk was "extremely difficult," after the Russian army destroyed a second bridge into the city and was heavily bombarding the last one, regional governor Sergiy Gaiday said.

Valeriy Zaluzhny, commander-in-chief of the Ukrainian military, said Russia's massed artillery in that region gave it a tenfold advantage.

But, he added in a Facebook post, "Despite everything, we continue to hold positions. Every meter of Ukrainian land there is covered in blood — but not only ours, but also the occupier's."

Russia's invasion of Ukraine, which began Feb. 24, has killed thousands of soldiers and civilians, displaced millions and reduced swathes of the country to rubble.

President Volodymyr Zelensky described the latest fighting in Severodonetsk as "very fierce... literally every meter." 

In his evening video statement, he said Russia was deploying undertrained troops and using its young men as "cannon fodder." 

Away from the battlefield, World Trade Organization members gathered in Geneva Sunday with, at the top of a challenging agenda, the need to tackle global food security threatened by Russia's invasion of wheat-producing Ukraine.

Tensions ran high during a closed-door session, where several delegates took the floor to condemn Russia's war, including Kyiv's envoy who was met with a standing ovation, WTO spokesman Dan Pruzin told journalists.

Then, just before Russian Minister of Economic Development Maxim Reshetnikov spoke, around three dozen delegates "walked out," the spokesman said.

That came a day after the head of the European Commission promised Ukraine would receive a clear signal within a week on its bid to join the European Union.

"Ukraine has achieved a lot in the past 10 years and much still needs to be done. Our opinion will reflect this carefully," Commission head Ursula von der Leyen said at the end of a surprise visit to Kyiv.

EU leaders are expected to approve the bid at an upcoming summit, although with strict conditions attached. 

Ukraine's geopolitical vulnerability has been laid bare by Russia's invasion. In Brussels, demonstrators brandishing blue and yellow Ukrainian flags circled European Commission headquarters Sunday in a show of support.

Source: The Moscow Times 

BDST: 1305 HRS, JUN 13, 2022
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