Ukraine says Russia using ‘all its power’ to capture eastern city

• Russia “putting all its weight” towards conquering the vital eastern city.
• there was “no problem” to export grain from Ukraine, Putin.
• Russian troops now occupy a fifth of Ukraine’s territory.

Ukraine claimed Saturday that its forces were able to drive back Russian troops in a heavy battle in Severodonetsk, Despite Russia “putting all its weight” towards conquering the vital eastern city,

At least seven civilians have been reported slain in the Lugansk region, where Severodonetsk is located, as well as in the southern city of Mykolaiv, where a revered wooden church has been set on fire as a result of the conflict.

Lugansk regional governor Sergiy Gaiday said in an interview posted online that the invading forces had captured most of Severodonetsk, but that the Ukrainian military was pushing them back.

“The Russian army, as we understand, is throwing all its power, all its reserves in this direction,” said Gaiday, who on Friday claimed Ukrainian troops had managed to win back a fifth of the city.

Russia’s army however claimed some Ukrainian military units were withdrawing from the city.

The press service of Ukraine’s presidential office said that “street fighting” was continuing in Severodonetsk and “assault operations are underway” in an industrial part of the city.

“It is Russia that humiliates itself. We all better focus on how to put Russia in its place. This will bring peace and save lives,” he said.

Regardless of diplomatic efforts, the conflict has raged in the south and east of the country.

Ukrainian officials on Saturday announced the death of four foreign military volunteers fighting Russian forces but did not specify when or under what circumstances they died.

The International Legion of Defence of Ukraine, an official volunteer brigade, named the men and published photos of them, saying they were from Germany, the Netherlands, Australia and France.

The deaths of the two men named from the Netherlands and Australia had already been reported and France’s foreign ministry on Friday said a French volunteer fighter had been killed in combat.

Ukraine also reported two victims from a Russian missile strike on Odessa in the southwest, without specifying if they were dead or injured.

Russia’s defence ministry said it had struck a “deployment point for foreign mercenaries” in the village of Dachne in the Odessa region.

Read more: Ukraine asserts In the eastern city, Russian soldiers pushed back

It also claimed a missile strike in the northeastern Sumy region on an artillery training centre with “foreign instructors”.

Apart from the human toll, the conflict has caused widespread damage to Ukraine’s cultural heritage.

On Saturday, Ukrainian officials reported that a large Orthodox wooden church, a popular pilgrim site, was on fire and blamed Russian forces.

Russia continues to prove “its inability to be part of the civilized world,” Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko said in a statement.

Russia’s defence ministry blamed “Ukrainian nationalists” for the blaze and said its forces were not operating in the area.

The church was built in 2009 on the site of another church that was blown up in 1947.

Russian troops now occupy a fifth of Ukraine’s territory and Moscow has imposed a blockade on its Black Sea ports.

The blockade has sparked fears of a global food crisis since Ukraine and Russia are among the top wheat exporters in the world.

The United Nations said it was leading intense negotiations with Russia to allow Ukraine’s grain harvest to leave the country.

Putin in a televised interview Friday said there was “no problem” to export grain from Ukraine, via Kyiv- or Moscow-controlled ports or even through central Europe.

The UN has warned that African countries, which normally import more than half of their wheat consumption from Ukraine and Russia, face an “unprecedented” crisis.

Food prices in Africa have already exceeded those in the aftermath of the 2011 Arab Spring uprisings and the 2008 food riots.

Putin met Senegalese President Macky Sall, the head of the African Union, at his Black Sea house in Sochi on Friday.

Sall said he was “quite reassured” after the meeting, adding that Putin was “dedicated and aware” that the crisis and sanctions were causing “severe challenges for weak economies.”

Read more: Ukraine announces deaths of four foreign military volunteers