Serhii Haidai  also added that the Lysychansk-Bakhmut highway is being shelled. "Yesterday an enemy subversive group took to the road, there was a shootout, the Russians even managed to set up their checkpoints, but today the road is not blocked, humanitarian aid has been delivered."

According to Haidai, Sievierodonetsk is not encircled, with up to 15,000 people remaining in the town and villages of the community. In total, over 40,000 people stay in the government-controlled area of the Luhansk region and 99% of them do not want to leave.

Due to enemy shelling, there is no gas supply in the Luhansk region, so a bakery in Lysychansk cannot operate. But local authorities made sure there could be bread.

According to Haidai, Sievierodonetsk is not encircled, with up to 15,000 people remaining in the town and villages of the community.

In total, over 40,000 people stay in the government-controlled area of the Luhansk region and 99% of them do not want to leave.

Fierce battles raging in eastern Ukraine:

In the Donetsk and Luhansk directions, Russian invaders are conducting offensive operations, attempting to encircle Ukrainian forces.

Now Ukrainian defenders are fighting fierce battles to prevent the enemy from advancing deeper into the territory of Ukraine.

The relevant statement was made by Ukrainian Defense Ministry Spokesperson Oleksandr Motuzianyk during a briefing at Ukraine Media Center, an Ukrinform correspondent reports.

According to Motuzianyk, in the Kharkiv direction, Russian troops focused efforts to maintain the captured frontiers and prevent the further advancement of Ukrainian forces.

“For this purpose, the enemy launched fire attacks on Rubizhne and Ternova, and attempted to counterattack in the direction of Ternova, Ruski Tyshky and Pytomnyk,” Motuzianyk told.

In the Sloviansk direction, Russian invaders are attempting to create conditions and resume the offensive on Sloviansk. Here, Ukrainian defenders prevented several attempts by the enemy to advance towards Kharkiv Region’s Dovhenke and Donetsk Region’s Bohorodchyne.

Now Russian troops are seeking for weak spots in the defense lines of Ukrainian forces and actively using artillery and combat aviation.

In the Donetsk direction, with the support of aviation, Russian invaders are conducting offensive operations, attempting to encircle Ukrainian forces near Lysychansk and Donetsk and reach the administrative border of Luhansk Region.

In the Lyman direction, the enemy is extensively conducting offensive operations to gain full control over Lyman, using artillery and aviation, attempting to destroy Ukraine’s air defense systems. But, according to Motuzianyk, the enemy’s efforts have been unsuccessful so far.

In the Sievierodonetsk direction, Ukrainian defenders are repulsing enemy attacks on Sievierodonetsk and Hirske.

In the Bakhmut direction, Ukrainian forces are repulsing the enemy’s assault operations near Komyshuvakha and Vidrodzhennia. Near Vasylivka, Russian troops are consolidating positions and preparing for the offensive on Berestove.

In the Avdiivka direction, the Ukrainian military are holding back the enemy’s offensive near Krasnohorivka, Kamianka, Avdiivka and Pisky.

Thanks to the skilful actions and effective defense of the Ukrainian military, the enemy’s efforts have been unsuccessful.

Russian troops are using electronic warfare systems to counter Ukrainian unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) and suppress connection.

In the Kurakhove, Novopavlivka and Zaporizhzhia directions, Russian invaders opened fire on Ukrainian positions, using artillery systems. The enemy’s air strikes were recorded near Orikhiv.

In the Southern Bug direction, Russian troops focused efforts to restrain Ukrainian units and prevent them from being transferred to other areas.

In the Kryvyi Rih and Mykolaiv directions, the enemy opened fire on settlements all over the contact line. As part of preparations for offensive and counteroffensive operations, Russian troops deployed three TOS-1 Buratino heavy flamethrower systems near Beryslav.

In the Siverskyi direction, Russian invaders are enhancing the state border in Bryansk Region and Kursk Region to prevent Ukrainian forces from being transferred to other areas.

In the Volyn and Polissia directions, the situation remained unchanged. The separate units of the Armed Forces of the Republic of Belarus continue to enhance the state border in Brest Region and Gomel Region.

Danilov: we do not have enough military aircraft:

Oleksiy Danilov, Secretary of the National Security and Defense Council, said that now Ukraine needs military aircraft.

He said this in an interview with the Vіkna-Novini.

“The only thing we lack today is aircraft. Because today the dominance of the Russian Federation in the sky, unfortunately. Especially with the use of strategic aviation, which we transferred after the 1994 agreement. These are aircraft that were once patrolling our country, some of them… Of course, this is sad, but we will learn from these lessons,” Danilov said.

According to Danilov, the enemy is “Very insidious and difficult.”

“Yes, our troops are fighting back. But the troops of the Russian Federation are part of the second largest army in the world, and they are powerful today. Our task is to destroy this power to zero so that the issue of our independence, the existence of our state will never be on the agenda of the Russian Federation in the future."

On April 26, a meeting of defense ministers from almost 40 countries took place at the Ramstein airbase in Germany, during which a collective support group for Ukraine was launched, the purpose of which is to meet the defense needs of the Ukrainian army.

On May 23, the second meeting of the heads of the defense departments of several dozen countries took place.

As a result of the meeting, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that the countries plan to provide Ukraine with anti-ship missiles, jet systems, tanks and ammunition.

Source | Ukrinform.net