Russia claims control of Lisichansk oil refinery as US announces new military aid to Ukraine

Shotlist

FILE: Moscow, Russia – April 20, 2022 (CCTV – No access Chinese mainland)
1. Kremlin, bridge

FILE: Moscow, Russia – Dec 2015 (CCTV – No access Chinese mainland)
2. Various of building of Russian Defense Ministry, Russian national flag on building

Moscow, Russia – Released on July 1, 2022 (Courtesy of Russian Defense Ministry – No access Chinese mainland)
3. Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov

Location Unknown – Released on July 1, 2022 (Courtesy of Russian Defense Ministry – No access Chinese mainland)
4. Various of armed soldiers, military vehicles
5. Various of rocket launchers firing

FILE: Lviv, Ukraine – March 12, 2022 (CGTN – No access Chinese mainland)
6. National flag of Ukraine

FILE: Kiev, Ukraine – May 18, 2017 (CCTV – No access Chinese mainland)
7. Various of cityscape

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8. Various of Capitol building, U.S. national flag

FILE: Avdiivka, Donetsk – May 15, 2022 (CGTN – No access Chinese mainland)
9. Various of abandoned NATO weapons

FILE: Marinka, Donetsk – March 26, 2022 (CGTN – No access Chinese mainland)
10. Various of used bullets, shells from NATO

Storyline

Russia claimed on Friday that its forces has gained full control of the Lisichansk oil refinery in Luhansk, but this was denied by Kiev, who is receiving a new batch of military aid from the United States and dismissing the plan to withdraw from the city.

Over four months into the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the two forces are continuing their fighting around Lisichansk, a strategically vital city on the battlefront in Luhansk.

The fighters of the Russia-backed “Lugansk People’s Republic (LPR)” reported on Friday that it has controlled suburban Lisichansk.

Over the past three days, Russian units have taken control of the Lisichansk oil refinery, the Matrosskaya coal mine, the Gelatine plant and the settlement of Topolevka, said the Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov at a daily briefing on Friday.

But the Ukrainian Armed Forces said Russia has only taken parts of the oil refinery and the two sides were still engaged in intense fighting.

Russian troops are attempting to encircle the Ukrainian Armed Forces outside Lisichansk and trying to take control of a section of the Bakhmut – Lisichansk highway. But for the moment the Ukrainian forces have no plan to withdraw, according to the Ukrainian state news agency Ukrinform on Saturday.

The United States on Friday announced a new round of security assistance to Ukraine that included advanced anti-aircraft and aerial defense systems as well as additional ammunition for advanced rocket systems.

Totaling 820 million U.S. dollars, the new weapons came in two parts, according to an announcement from the Department of Defense. Fifty million dollars’ worth of aid, of which additional ammunition for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems is a part, will be drawn from the presidential drawdown authority that authorizes President Joe Biden to directly tap into existing U.S. weapons inventories.

The remaining 770 million dollars falls under the Ukraine Security Assistance Initiative, through which the U.S. government contracts with arms manufacturers to make weapons for Ukraine. In this part, the United States will provide Ukraine with two National Advanced Surface-to-Air Missile Systems, 150,000 rounds of 155mm artillery ammunition for the howitzers and four counter-artillery radars, the Pentagon said.

The United States has now committed 6.9 billion dollars of security assistance to Ukraine since Russia launched the special military operation on Feb. 24 and a total of 7.6 billion dollars since the start of the Biden administration.