Ukraine said on Sunday that its forces control “half” of Severodonetsk, a key eastern city and the epicenter of heavy fighting in the vast coal-rich Donbass region.
“Our armed forces have liberated half” of this industrial hub from Russian troops, Luhansk regional governor Sergei Gaidai said in an interview posted on social media. “Half of the city is under the control of our defenders,” he added.
This morning, Gaidai began by stating through the Telegram social network that “the Russians controlled about 70% of the city, but in the last two days they were snubbed. The city is divided in two, they are afraid to move freely,” he said.
The Luhansk region has been partially controlled by pro-Russian separatists since 2014, and Severodonetsk is its administrative capital of Ukraine. The Russian army is now trying to conquer all of Donbass.
Severodonetsk is a major industrial center and the largest city still in Ukrainian hands in the Lugansk region, where Russian soldiers have been advancing step by step in recent weeks, having withdrawn or expelled other parts of Ukrainian territory, including areas around the capital Kyiv.
Eight Russian soldiers were taken prisoner, according to Gaidai, who said Russian forces had been instructed to capture the town by June 10, as well as to ensure a secure form of communication between two neighboring towns, Lyssychansk and Bakhmut.
“We are waiting for them to start throwing away all the reserves -in men and material- to which they now have access to carry out these two tasks,” the governor continued.
“In the next five days, there will be a sharp increase in the number of heavy artillery shelling” by the Russians, Gaidai concluded.
The Russian Defense Ministry said on Saturday that Ukrainian troops “suffered significant losses in the fighting for Severodonetsk (up to 90% in various units)” and were withdrawing to Lyssychansk.
Source: Observadora
