INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Russian forces on Tuesday stepped up efforts to cut off Ukrainian troops in the key industrial city of Severodonetsk in the east of the
country despite Ukrainians insisting they were holding on.Moscow has laid siege for weeks to the cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk,
which are separated by a river, as the last areas in the eastern Donbas region of Lugansk still under Ukrainian control.The head of
Severodonetsk's administration said "massive shelling" had destroyed a third bridge linking the twin cities, but insisted his city was "not
isolated.""There are communication channels even if they are quite complicated," Oleksandr Stryuk told Ukrainian television
Ukraine's "continue to defend the city" but that the situation on the ground "changes every hour," he added.On Monday, Sergiy Gaiday,
Evacuation is also not possible."Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has branded the human cost of the battle for east "simply
terrifying," urging Western allies to speed arms deliveries to shore up Ukraine's ability to reclaim territory."We just need enough weapons
Our partners have them."His presidential advisor, Mikhaylo Podolyak, has listed hundreds of howitzers, tanks and armored vehicles as among
items needed by the Ukrainian army.'Tear off their arms'"To end the war we need heavy weapons," he tweeted.Last week, Ukraine's defense
minister said up to 100 Ukrainian troops were being killed and 500 sustaining injuries every day.The capture of Severodonetsk would open the
road to Sloviansk and another major city, Kramatorsk, in Moscow's push to conquer Donbas, a mainly Russian-speaking region partly held by
pro-Kremlin separatists since 2014.AFP team in Lysychansk saw massive damage after months of shelling, with no water, electricity or phone
signal.The Ukrainian military is using high ground in the city to exchange fire with Russian forces fighting for control of Severodonetsk,
through his yard, killing them instantly."I don't know who did this, but if I knew, I would tear off their arms," he said.Neighbor Yevgeniya
She was a very good, kind and helpful woman
Why did they do this to her?" Panicheva said."They bomb and they bomb, and we don't know what to do."The Lugansk governor said Ukraine's
forces had been pushed back from Severodonetsk's center with the Russians controlling 70 to 80% of the city in their attempt to "encircle
it."With Russia turning the screw on Severodonetsk, Ukrainian forces have two choices: "to surrender or die," said Eduard Basurin, a
representative for pro-Russian separatists.On Monday, Amnesty International accused Russia of war crimes in Ukraine, saying that attacks on
residential neighbourhoods in Kharkiv are indiscriminate attacks which killed and injured hundreds of civilians, and as such constitute war
crimes," the rights group said in a report about Ukraine's second-biggest city.'Hands tied'In Bucha, a town near Kyiv that has become
synonymous with allegations of Russian war crimes, police said Monday they had discovered another seven bodies in a grave."Several victims
had their hands tied and knees bound," Kyiv regional police chief Andriy Nebytov said on Facebook.Dozens of bodies in civilian clothing were
found in the town in April after Russian troops withdrew from the area following a month-long occupation.Away from the battlefield, Russia's
war in Ukraine has posed a threat to global food security
Ukraine's deputy agriculture minister said Monday that a quarter of his country's arable land had been lost but insisted national food
security was not threatened.On a farm near the southern Ukrainian city Mykolaiv, the harvest has been delayed by the need to undo damage by
Russian troops who passed through the area in March."We planted really late because we needed to clear everything beforehand," including
bombshells, Nadiia Ivanova, 42, told AFP.The farm's warehouses currently hold 2,000 tons of last season's grain but with normal export
routes blocked or damaged by the war, there are no buyers for the harvest.
