According to the British Defense Ministry, both Russia and Ukraine have committed “substantial forces” to the region surrounding the Ukrainian villages of Pavlivka and Vuhledar in south-central Donetsk Oblast.
The area “has been the scene of a fierce battle over the previous two weeks, however, little land has changed hands,” the agency stated in an intelligence bulletin issued on Twitter on Sunday.
According to the ministry, the region “holds potential as a launch pad for a future significant assault north to conquer the entirety of Ukrainian-held Donetsk Oblast,” hence it will probably continue to be “heavily disputed.”
Russian success, according to the ministry, is improbable since the country “is unlikely to be able to concentrate sufficient quality forces to accomplish an operational breakthrough.”
The 90th anniversary of Holodomor, also known as the Great Famine, was commemorated and the Food from Ukraine program, which sends grain to nations severely affected by famine and drought, was promoted during a meeting that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy convened in Kyiv on Saturday.
In the winter of 1932–1933, Soviet dictator Josef Stalin created the Holodomor, a synthetic famine that claimed as many as 8 million Ukrainian lives.
Zelenskyy used the occasion of the anniversary to reaffirm Ukraine’s dedication to exporting grain and other items to the international market.
He said that they are “not simply empty words.”
By the end of next spring, he added, “we expect to send at least 60 boats from our ports – at least 10 each month – to nations in danger of starvation and drought under the Grain from Ukraine initiative.”
“This is Ethiopia, these are Congo, Kenya, Nigeria, Somalia, South Sudan, and Yemen.”
The plan is an addendum to the agreement negotiated by the U.N. that permits grain imports from Ukraine across the Black Sea.
The Kremlin has claimed that such exports from Ukraine have not reached the nations that are most at risk.
To ship grain to nations in danger, Zelenskyy said that Kyiv had gathered around $150 million from more than 20 nations and the European Union.
Denys Shmyhal, the prime minister of Ukraine, said that despite its financial difficulties, his country has set aside $24 million to buy maize for other nations in need.
Shmyhal also had meetings with his Polish and Lithuanian colleagues on Saturday in Kyiv. The Lublin Triangle’s three prime ministers reaffirmed their resolve to cooperate in the fight against Russian aggression.
