Russia claims advances as Ukraine hails new aid

KIEV

Russia said Sunday its forces had gained territory near the key battleground town of Chasiv Yar in east Ukraine, highlighting the pressure facing Kiev as it gears up to receive $61 billion in new U.S. aid.

Ukraine meanwhile reported renewed Russian strikes against its civilians.

After months of partisan infighting, the United States House of Representatives finally approved the major package in a vote Saturday, giving a morale boost to Ukrainian forces on the defensive.

It still needs to be approved by the U.S. Senate before U.S. President Joe Biden can give it the final green light.

"This is good news," 34-year-old Ukrainian soldier Dmytro told AFP from the northeast Kharkiv region. "We are now catastrophically short of ammunition. If there is help, everything will be fine."

Russia said Sunday it had taken control of Bogdanivka, a small frontline village less than three kilometres (two miles) northeast of Chasiv Yar.

"Units of the southern grouping of troops have completely liberated the settlement of Bogdanivka," Moscow's defence ministry said.

Chasiv Yar, which had a pre-war population of about 13,000, has been largely destroyed by fighting and most of its residents have fled.

The Kremlin has sought to play down the impact of the new U.S. aid, arguing it only deepens Washington's "immersion" in the war.

"Feverish attempts aimed at saving (Ukrainian President Volodymyr) Zelensky's neo-Nazi regime are doomed to failure," Russian foreign ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said.

 'Situation on front will worsen in May'

The situation for Ukraine on its frontline is likely to steadily deteriorate in coming weeks, Ukraine's military intelligence chief said in an interview published Monday.

His assessment comes as outgunned and outmanned Ukrainian forces struggle to hold back Russian troops who have grained ground in recent months and are expected to soon step up their offensive.

"In our opinion, a rather difficult situation awaits us in the near future," Kyrylo Budanov told the BBC's Ukrainian service.

"But it is not catastrophic, and we need to understand that. Armageddon will not happen, as many people are now saying," he said.

"But there will be problems starting from mid-May. I am talking about the front in particular... It will be a difficult period in mid-May, early June," Budanov said.

 'Save our lives' 

Analysts have warned it will take time for Kiev to feel the benefit of the aid package, which includes $14 billion to train and equip the Ukrainian army.

Only once the bill passess the Senate and is signed off by Biden can the lengthy process of transporting it to the war-torn country begin.

This "will likely mean that new U.S. assistance will not begin to affect the situation on the front line for several weeks," the Institute for the Study of War said in an assessment.

Zelensky urged the United States to ensure it is delivered quickly.

"It is very important for us to have a prompt decision of the Senate in support of the Ukrainian package," he said in a social media post Sunday.

And in his evening address Sunday, he added: "The time between political decisions and the actual destruction of the enemy at the front... should be as short as possible."

 'Bad day' for Russia 

As Russia claimed advances on the ground, Kiev said it had attacked a Russian salvage ship in the Black Sea, where its forces have had more success.

Kiev has often flexed its ability to target and destroy boats in Russia's navy, attacks that have humiliated the Kremlin and forced it to move ships away from the annexed Crimean peninsula.

"Another bad day for the Russian Black Sea Fleet," Ukraine's defence ministry said, announcing its navy had attacked the "Kommuna" salvage ship.

The Russian navy used the ship for deep-sea work, including raising submarines and sunken cargo, and was one of the oldest in service, Ukraine said.

Ukrainian navy spokesman Dmytro Pletenchuk said the damage caused by the attack was unclear but that the ship was "no longer capable of performing its tasks".

The Russian-installed governor of Sevastopol, Mikhail Razvozhayev, did not confirm "Kommuna" was hit but said Moscow's military had "repelled an attack by an anti-ship missile" on a vessel at the port, and that falling debris had caused a fire.

Prosecutors said an 82-year-old woman was killed and four others injured during Russian shelling of Ukrainsk, a town in the eastern Donetsk region.

Russia separately "fired ballistic missiles" at the southern region of Odesa, wounding four others, local officials said.