A police officer looks over a crater left by a missile attack on June 6, 2022 in Druzhkivka, Ukraine. The missile struck a residential neighborhood, killing a woman and damaging or destroying 80 buildings, including a church. Scott Olson / Getty Images
Ukrainian forces retreated on the outskirts of the industrial city of Sievierodonetsk on Wednesday in the face of a fierce Russian assault, the regional governor said, another major change of momentum in one of the bloodiest battles of the war.
Russia has concentrated its troops and firepower in the small eastern town over the past few weeks to secure the surrounding province on behalf of separatist representatives. Ukraine has promised to fight there for as long as possible, saying the battle could help shape the future course of the war.
After announcing a surprise counterattack last week, the governor of the surrounding Luhansk region said on Wednesday afternoon that most of the city was once again in Russian hands.
”… Our (forces) now regain control only on the outskirts of the city. But the fight is still going on, “Serhiy Gaidai told RBC-Ukraine.
Ukrainian forces were still controlling the entire small twin town of Lysychansk on the west bank of the Siverskyi Donets River, but Russian forces were wreaking havoc on residential buildings there, it said in an online post.
Russian forces have 10 times more equipment than Ukrainian troops in some areas of Sievierodonetsk, said the spokesman of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine Oleksandr Motuzyanyk. Ukraine has urged its Western allies to speed up arms delivery, saying the situation would become very difficult for the country if Russia broke its lines in the east.
“The road to peace passes through heavy weapons,” Ukrainian presidential negotiator and adviser Mikhailo Podolyak said on Twitter, reiterating warnings that the war could spread to the European Union if Russia were not defeated in Ukraine.
Reuters was unable to independently verify the situation on the ground in Sieverodonetsk.
Moscow says it is involved in a “special military operation” to disarm and “deactivate” its neighbor. Ukraine and its allies say Moscow has launched an unprovoked war of aggression, killing thousands of civilians and crushing cities. United Nations figures show that more than 7 million people have crossed the border from Ukraine since Russia invaded on February 24.
Luhansk and the adjacent Donetsk province form the Donbas, claimed by Moscow by its representatives who have maintained the eastern parts of the region since 2014. Moscow has been trying to encircle Ukrainian forces in areas they still have.
West of Siervierodonetsk in Sloviansk, one of the main cities in the hands of Ukraine’s Donbas, women with small children lined up for help while other residents carried buckets of water around the city.
Most residents have fled, but authorities say about 24,000 remain in the city, on the way to an expected assault by Russian forces regrouping in the north.
MURAT YUKSELIR / THE BALLOON AND THE MAIL, SOURCE: GRAPHIC NEWS
Albina Petrovna, 85, described the time when her building was caught in an attack, which left her windows shattered and her balcony destroyed.
“Broken glass fell on me, but God saved me, I have scratches everywhere …” he said.
Russia has focused on the Donbas since its forces were defeated on the outskirts of Kyiv in March.
The office of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said two people had been killed in the Luhansk region and four in the Kharkiv region in the past 24 hours, and others were injured.
In Kharkiv, the second largest city in Ukraine, residents were clearing the rubble of the bombings the day before. Ukraine pushed back Russian forces last month from the outskirts of the city, but Russia is still sporadically hitting it.
CCTV footage showed the moment on Tuesday afternoon when an alleged missile hit a mall that included a supermarket, scattering debris and merchandise. Images filmed from a drone showed an open hole in the roof of the large building.
“The support pillars are completely destroyed,” said supermarket manager Svitlana Diulina, adding that no one had been injured in the attack.
Ukraine is one of the largest grain exporters in the world, and Western countries accuse Russia of creating a risk of world hunger by blocking Ukrainian Black Sea ports. Moscow says Western sanctions are responsible for food shortages.
Turkey has been trying to negotiate to open Ukrainian Black Sea ports. Foreign Minister Mevlut Cavusoglu welcomed Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and said a UN-backed port agreement was possible with new talks.
Lavrov said Ukrainian ports could be opened, but Ukraine should demining them first. Ukraine rejected Russia’s assurances as “empty words” and said Russian attacks on farmland and agricultural sites in the south were exacerbating the crisis.
Vitaliy Kim, governor of the Mykolaiv region, where Russian bombing destroyed the warehouses of one of Ukraine’s largest agricultural commodity terminals over the weekend, told Reuters that Moscow was trying to scare the world because meets its terms.
The Kremlin previously quoted Russian President Vladimir Putin as saying that Western sanctions should be lifted for Russian grain to reach the markets.
To further increase the stakes, the Russian-run administration in the occupied part of the Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine said it planned to hold a referendum later this year to join Russia. Officials stationed by Russia in the westernmost Kherson province have announced similar plans.
Some lawmakers from the ruling United Russia party have also suggested linking the Donbass with Russia. The region has not yet announced a referendum, but Donetsk province chief Denis Pushilin replaced his government on Wednesday, citing the need to push for “integration processes.”
Ukraine and its Western allies consider any referendum planned in the occupied areas to be illegal and proof that Russia’s real goal is territorial conquest.
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The bombings hit the besieged city of Lysychansk, destroying residential buildings and infrastructure, Ukraine’s national police said on June 5.
Reuters