Ukrainian forces may have to pull back in Sievierodonetsk

SIEVIERODONETSK, June 08 (Reuters/AP): Ukraine's military may have to pull back to stronger positions in the embattled eastern city of Sievierodonetsk, but they will not give up the city and fierce fighting raged there on Wednesday, the region's governor said.
Ukraine expects Russia to step up its bombardment of Sievierodonetsk and to mount a huge offensive where Moscow is focusing all its efforts, the governor, Serhiy Gaidai, said on television.
"Fighting is still going and no one is going to give up the city even if our military has to step back to stronger positions. This will not mean someone is giving up the city - no one will give up anything. But it's possible (they) will be forced to pull back," he said.
The days-long battle for the industrial city has emerged as pivotal, with Russia focusing its offensive might in the hope of achieving one of its stated aims - to fully capture surrounding Luhansk province on behalf of Russian-speaking separatists.
"We expect the amount of shelling and bombardments of Lyshychansk and Sievierdonetsk to increase many times, huge offensives in the Sievierdonetsk and Popasna direction and attempts to once again cross the Siverskyi Donets River to create a bridgehead and further develop the offensive," he said.
Lavrov in Turkey to discuss
plan to ship Ukrainian grain
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov is due to hold talks Wednesday with Turkish officials on a plan that could allow Ukraine to export its grain through the Black Sea to global markets amid an escalating food crisis.
Ukraine is one of the world's largest exporters of wheat, corn and sunflower oil, but the war and a Russian blockade of its ports have halted much of that flow, endangering food supplies to many developing countries. Many of those ports are now also heavily mined.
An estimated 22 million tons of grains are sitting in silos in Ukraine.
Turkey is involved in efforts for the establishment of a U.N.-led mechanism that would create a secure corridor for the shipment of the Ukrainian grain - and for Russia to export food and fertilizer. Turkey would facilitate and protect the transport of the grain in the Black Sea, Turkish officials have said.
A top Russian official said Tuesday that Ukraine needs to remove sea mines near its Black Sea port of Odesa to allow grain exports to resume.