As US-donated howitzers demolish Russian tanks in the heated struggle for Severodonetsk, Western-made weapons are starting to show on the battlefields of eastern Ukraine.
A video provided by Ukraine’s military shows artillery shells raining down from much to 25 miles distant, damaging a tank and two BMP infantry fighting vehicles.
On the front lines around the eastern city of Severodonetsk in the Luhansk area, artillerymen from the 81st Airmobile Brigade were operating the US-donated, British-built M777 howitzer.
The US has previously sent Ukraine more than 100 howitzers, with another 18 – as well as tactical vehicles to tow them and ammunition – included in the latest $1 billion batch of military aid.
With the recent admission by Ukraine that they are losing 100 troops per day, primarily due to focused fire from Russia’s superior creeping artillery barrages, powerful NATO weaponry are critical for the smaller nation to stay in the fight and protect their territory.
The words ‘From America with love’ can be seen scribbled around the barrel of one M777 howitzer in a separate film broadcast by Ukrainian military last month commemorating the much-loved US howitzers.
In the video description, Commander in Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces Valery Zaluzhnyi said, “My guys know the significance of artillery.”
When combined with the M982 Excalibur precision guided munition, the M777 can fire up to 25 miles and strike targets within 10 yards.
The 2S19 self-propelled howitzer and D-30 towed guns, Russia’s principal artillery systems, have a range of substantially less than this.
The fiercest combat in Ukraine is centered on Severodonetsk, which borders the Donets River and has been largely damaged.
For several weeks, Moscow has been attempting to take the 100,000-person metropolis.
As Russia gains ground in the Donbas, Ukrainian forces holed up in a chemical factory in Severodonetsk have been urged to lay down their rifles and surrender.
After fleeing a Russian bombardment, more than 500 people and an undetermined number of military are trapped inside the Azot plant.
‘Right now, the most intense fights are taking place near Severodonetsk.’ ‘They (Russia) do not have complete control of the city,’ Sergiy Gaiday, the governor of the eastern Lugansk area, said on Telegram.
‘There are difficult clashes in surrounding villages, such as Toshkivska and Zolote. They’re attempting but failing to get through,’ he added, adding that Ukrainian forces were ‘fighting Russians from all sides.’
Gaiday said’more destruction’ had occurred at the besieged Azot chemical facility in Severodonetsk, where 568 people, including 38 children, were refuge.
Lysychansk, a Ukrainian-controlled city across a river from devastated Severodonetsk, is also being ‘heavily shelled,’ according to him.
Residents of Lysychansk were preparing to be evacuated.
‘We’re leaving everything behind and heading off. No one can survive a strike like this,’ said Alla Bor, a history teacher who was waiting with her son-in-law Volodymyr and her 14-year-old grandson.
‘We’re leaving our house and abandoning everything. We had left food for our dog. ‘It’s inhumane, but what are you going to do about it?’
In light of the tense military situation in the east, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky welcomed Brussels’ backing for Kyiv’s EU candidacy as a “historic achievement.”
On Friday, the European Commission led a powerful show of unity by endorsing Ukraine for EU candidate status, a move that may add Ukraine to the list of countries vying for membership as soon as next week.
At a Brussels summit next week, all 27 leaders must endorse Ukraine’s candidacy, but the chiefs of the EU’s three largest countries – France, Germany, and Italy – gave full support to the concept during a highly significant visit to Kyiv this week.
Despite the fact that EU membership could take years, Zelensky hailed the vote as a “historic milestone” that would “definitely bring our victory against Russia closer.”
‘Even in the midst of a war, Ukrainian institutions remain resilient.’ In a video speech, Zelensky added, “Ukraine’s democratic habits have not lost their potency.”
President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen wore a spectacular ensemble in Ukraine’s national colors of blue and yellow on Friday to show her support.
‘We are all aware that Ukrainians are willing to die for a European future. ‘We want them to live with us so they may experience the European dream,’ she explained.
Meanwhile, Russian state television broadcasted social media recordings of two US military veterans who went missing while fighting alongside the Ukrainian army last week, claiming they were seized by Russian forces.
After their relatives lost communication with them, US President Joe Biden declared on Friday that he had no idea where Alexander Drueke and Andy Huynh were.
The missing Americans, including a third who has been identified as a former US Marines captain, are said to be among an unknown number of largely military veterans who have volunteered to help Ukrainian troops with other foreigners.
Volunteers from Ukraine continue to sign up, with one group conducting military drills on Friday in reinforced positions abandoned by Russian troops in Bucha, a town associated with war crimes attributed on Moscow’s forces.
‘The majority of the people here aren’t military. ‘They’re just civilians who want to defend their nation; 50% of them have never carried a weapon before today,’ said a sergeant identified only as ‘Ticha.’
Moscow has warned Western countries against intervening in its former Soviet neighbor, claiming that it invaded to ‘de-nazify and de-militarize’ a country that was becoming too close to the West.
Unlike the security risk he sees in Kyiv joining NATO, Russian President Vladimir Putin said he had “nothing against” Ukraine joining the EU, stating it was “their sovereign option to join economic unions or not.”
However, he claimed that joining the European Union would turn Ukraine into a “semi-colony” of the West.
Putin also claimed that the Russian invasion was not to blame for global inflation and grain shortages, blaming Western sanctions for threatening starvation in the world’s poorest countries.
Moscow then increased the pressure on Western partners by drastically decreasing natural gas deliveries to western Europe through its pipelines, driving up energy prices in a region reliant on Russian gas.
Since June 15, France’s network provider has not received any Russian gas via pipeline from Germany, while Italy’s Eni said it expects Russian giant Gazprom to cut its supply in half on Friday.
Meanwhile, Ukraine was fighting for the right to host the Eurovision song contest next year, following its morale-boosting victory this year.
Kyiv has slammed organizers’ decision to shift the 2023 edition of the world’s largest live music event, potentially to the United Kingdom, due to security concerns.
‘We will ask for this decision to be changed because we believe we will be able to meet all of our obligations,’ Ukrainian Culture Minister Oleksandr Tkachenko said.