‘Street fighting’ underway for control of Severodonetsk

Russian and Ukrainian forces are locked in a fierce battle for Severodonetsk, a city key to Moscow’s goal of consolidating control of eastern Ukraine. Ukrainian officials acknowledge that Russian forces, relying on devastating bombardment and massive manpower, have taken the city center. But the mayor said Tuesday that Ukrainian troops are holding on amid heavy “street fighting” and that the city is not yet surrounded.

Severodonetsk was largely cut off Monday, when the last bridge connecting it to Ukrainian resupply routes was destroyed, a local official said. Mayor Alexander Stryuk said Tuesday that it was “quite difficult” to reach the city, but not impossible. More than 500 people remain trapped inside a chemical plant there, according to Stryuk, who said authorities are struggling to help them as the situation on the ground changes by the hour.

The Russian Defense Ministry on Tuesday rejected what it said was Kyiv’s request for a “humanitarian corridor” to evacuate civilians from the plant to Ukrainian territory, calling it a ploy to withdraw combatants. Instead, Moscow offered a corridor for civilians to Russian-held areas and demanded that the fighters surrender.

In another area of Ukraine, the British Defense Ministry said Russian forces “have likely made small advances” around Kharkiv “for the first time in several weeks.”

Three seasons of Ukraine’s wheat harvests are unlikely to reach global markets due to the war, exacerbating a global shortage, Ukrainian Agriculture Minister Mykola Solskyi told Reuters on Tuesday. Kyiv and its allies have accused Russia of blocking exports of grain from Ukrainian ports as a form of leverage in the conflict, a charge the Kremlin denies.

And Russia earned nearly $100 billion in revenue from fossil fuel exports in the first 100 days of the war, according to a new report, in a sign of the challenge the West faces in trying to cripple its economy.

China was the largest importer, buying more than $13 billion worth of fossil fuels during that period, followed by Germany at around $12.6 billion, the Center for Research on Energy and Clean Air report released Monday said.

Over the first 100 days of the conflict, France was the largest importer of Russian liquefied natural gas, the Finland-based research center found, while Germany bought the most Russian pipeline gas. China imported the most oil from Russia, and Japan imported the most coal.

U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will host a meeting Wednesday in Brussels with defense leaders from other countries that support Ukraine.