Russia claims control of Ukrainian stronghold in Luhansk | In-Live Discussion | WION

Russia claims control of Ukrainian stronghold in Luhansk | In-Live Discussion | WION

the Russian military said on Monday that it had taken full control of the settlement of bifa in Ukraine’s leans region but the Kev military said that it was holding Moscow troops back in the area now the Russian defense Ministry said in a statement that its forces had taken up better positions in the area while Russia rejoices inside Ukraine Kev rejoiced as it claimed to have destroyed a Russian mind sweeper in the black SE is Ukraine carrying out attacks on Russian assets outside of Ukraine and Russian grounds to make up for the loss of Defense on its home turf to discuss matters further we’re joined by Ben Aris who’s the founder and editor and chief of b& intell news and he’s joining us from Berlin Ben always a pleasure speaking with you now Russia’s advancements on the front line after taking over bifa Russia takes over Ukraine’s symbol of resistance in the Lans region talk to us about what kind of blow this gives to Ukraine which is anyways losing territory on a daily basis at the moment indeed the war for UK ukine is going extraordinarily badly um for a couple of reasons I mean the first and most important is that they’ve run out of air defense missiles or at least they’re scraping the barrel uh zalinsky the president has been on the wire a couple of times in the last few days um and started to openly criticize the West for being so slow about supplying uh Ukraine with the ammunition they need to keep the skies closed and that’s given free hand to Russia to uh pound the Ukraine with missiles it’s been targeting um Power generated facilities in particular but also military targets and there’s very little Ukraine can do about that at the same time as you reported as we’ve seen there’s a new offensive um coming from the north in the on the border um attacking the hke region and Russia has been openly massing troops on its side of the Border uh and also pounding the city using gra rocket launchers from inside its own territory uh and that’s a problem too because um there’s a de facto ban on Ukraine using NATO supplied missiles to hit targets inside of Russia and so it’s left to have to accept these missiles coming in there’s very little they can do about it uh and at the same time Ukraine now is pushing very hard to be given permission to use NATO missiles against Russian troops and Logistics on the inside across the border um opposite the city of hke and so what is Ukraine being able to do um it’s been hitting back the only way it can using its long range uh military drones to hit targets inside of Russia and targeting oil refineries and the like um but it’s sort of an act of desperation because um this doesn’t bring in much military advantage and it has no no other real choice of um effectively holding off the Russian attack Ben now if I were to just break it down a little further Russia has already used the drones that it got from Iran Russ we found you know some remains of a North Korean missile inside Ukraine that happened just last month Russia’s own defense manufacturing has seen a major boom in the last year itself and now we’ve saw Putin in China and of course they are no limits partners and now China and Russia have termed each other as priority Partners as well Russia armed with Chinese Iranian and North Korean weapons is it safe to say that it is uh undefeatable at the moment it looks like way to be honest um and the departing defense minister shyu um said a few weeks ago that the Russian economy now is on Full War footing and their production of weapons and Munitions has gone up to the point where they’re producing quote unquote more than they need and they’re sending them to warehouses um and this gives Russia an enormous Advantage um in so much as it can keep panning the Ukrainian positions whereas on the other side of the fence Ukraine has this $61 billion promise from the states but Battlefield Reports say almost no new uh weapons or or ammunition has arrived on the battlefield and so um Ukraine is left fighting a rear guard action I mean they’re just trying to hang on until these new supplies arrive which are due to arrive sometime in June onwards and that maybe will stabilize the the battle line but as you said um Ukraine is losing territory on a on a daily basis um and they’re they’re making heroic effort using what they have their drones they do have drones um which they’re making themselves and these are actually quite effective against Russian advancing troops so Russia although it’s been taking territory has been doing it at the cost of enormous casualties but then the Russian army has grown 15% in size thanks to an effective and successful voluntary campaign to sign up new conscripts to the Russian army and so Russia has always been very freely spending in terms of men and Casualty and so it’s pushing its advantage despite its losses um in those wounded on the battlefield then anytime there is any kind of an escalatory comment which comes from the West it’s almost certain that Russia is going to push down or you know insist on using nuclear weapons in the battlefield Russia’s nuclear nuclear saber rattling how close do you think Russia is to using a tactical nuclear weapon in Ukraine or is it just saber rattling at the moment I think the way to look at this is look there is now a non zero possibility of a nuclear weapon being used having said that I still think although the line between where we are now in terms of escalation and using that weapon is still a ways away nevertheless you know we keep doing this stepbystep gradual escalation so for example macron’s um Talk of putting new NATO troops on the ground which has been echoed by the estonians and now blinkin has also suggested or rather the Pentagon that um there’s going to to be us trainers on the ground in Ukraine um these are all steps towards that line having said that um I think it’s still a long way away because nobody wants to go there and the big problem that Russia has um it rattles its nuclear saber is what keeps NATO out of this fight which why NATO is not putting troops or its own planes onto the ground in Ukraine um however Putin has to be very reluctant to do that partly for the historical Legacy of being the man who used a nuclear weapon on civilians and also because of the reaction that his Partners such as China will have to that because um China will have to distance itself from Russia if it used a nuclear weapon and that’s a key relationship for the long-term fight that’s obviously going to continue after the ceasefire where Russia needs China as a close um economic and um military partner to stand up to the West if Russia used a nuclear weapon it would in effect isolate itself not just from the rest of the world but also its allies in the global South which be a huge problem and that’s what’s going to prevent this from happening I think Putin would have to be very desperate he have to be losing the war in Ukraine before he compl contemplated using a nuclear weapon all right I definitely Putin and xiin ping standing in the same frame is one image which would resonate very deeply in the west as they would be watching very closely where that partnership is going they’ve been clear on their end V she Regan ping and Putin that they are priority Partners now of course we are going to be tracking all that’s happening on the front lines between Russia and Ukraine Ben always a pleasure speaking with you I’m glad we made it past those technical glitches and heard all your insights on this thank you so much for making time for the interview always pleasure [Music]

The Russian military said on Monday it had taken full control of the settlement of Bilohorivka in Ukraine’s Luhansk region but the Kyiv military said it was holding Moscow troops back in the area. The Russian Defence Ministry said in a statement its forces had taken up better positions in the area. What are these better positions given Russia’s advancing line?

WION’s Shivan Chanana discusses with Ben Aris, Founder and Editor-in-chief of bne IntelliNews and also former Moscow bureau chief for the Daily Telegraph.

#russia #luhansk #ukraine

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