The advance of Russian forces approached the surrounding Ukrainian troops in the east, briefly occupying positions on the last road of a crucial pair of Ukrainian-controlled cities before being repulsed, a Ukrainian official said on Thursday.
Russia has fired thousands of troops into its assault on the eastern Donbas region, attacking from three sides in an attempt to encircle Ukrainian forces in Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk. The fall of the cities would put almost the entire province of Luhansk under Russian control, a key target of the Kremlin war.
Serhiy Gaidai, governor of Lugansk province, acknowledged that Ukrainian forces were withdrawing, but said that the last road from Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk, which straddles the Siversky Donets River, remained out of Russian control.
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In an interview posted on social media, Gaidai said that “about 50” Russian soldiers had arrived on the highway linking Lysychansk with Bakhmut, controlled by Ukraine, and “managed to settle for some time.” They even set up a checkpoint there. “
“Control was broken, they were pushed back. That is, the Russian army is not in control of the route, but it is being bombed, “he said.
“From the first day, the whole territory has been bombed, all the positions of the military. Many of our fortified structures were destroyed, “Gaidai said.” It is clear that our boys are slowly retreating to more fortified positions; we must contain this horde “.
This photo taken on May 25 shows an overview of a building destroyed after a strike in Kramatorsk, in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine. Aris Messinis / AFP via Getty Images
He hinted at further withdrawals from Ukraine, saying it was possible for troops to abandon “one settlement, maybe two. We must win the war, not the battle.”
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Western military analysts see the battle for the two cities as a possible turning point in the war, now that Russia has defined its main target as the capture of the east.
Reuters reporters operating in the southernmost Russian-controlled territory saw evidence of Moscow’s advance on the city of Svitlodarsk, where Ukrainian forces withdrew earlier this week.
The city is now under the firm control of pro-Russian fighters, who have occupied the local government building and hung a red flag with the Soviet sickle and hammer on the door.
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Images of drones filmed by Reuters reporters at the nearby abandoned battlefield showed dozens of craters marking a green field surrounded by shattered buildings. Pro-Russian fighters move into the trenches.
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Russia’s recent gains in the Donbas follow the surrender of the Ukrainian garrison in Mariupol last week and suggest a change of momentum on the battlefield after weeks of Ukrainian forces advancing near northeastern Kharkiv. .
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“Russia’s recent gains offer discouraging control over short-term expectations,” tweeted defense analyst Michael Kofman, director of Russian studies for the US-based think tank CNA.
Russian troops have broken Ukrainian lines in Popasna south of Sievierodonetsk and are threatening to encircle Ukrainian forces, he wrote.
“The extent to which this advance on Popasna threatens Ukraine’s overall position depends on whether Russian forces gain momentum or not. This in turn depends on the availability of force, reserves and logistics to support this advance.”
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Ukrainian Interior Ministry adviser Vadym Denisenko said in a briefing that the situation was very tense, as 25 Russian battalions tried to surround Ukrainian forces. A full-strength battalion has about 800 soldiers.
“Everything is focused on the Donbas now.”
Three months after its invasion of Ukraine, Russia has abandoned its assault on the capital Kyiv and is trying to consolidate control of the industrial region east of Donbas, where it has supported a separatist uprising since 2014.
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The Russian advance has been backed by a massive artillery bombardment. The Ukrainian armed forces said more than 40 cities in the region had been bombed in the past 24 hours, destroying or damaging 47 civilian sites, including 38 houses and a school.
Global attention this week has focused on Russia’s blockade of Ukraine’s Black Sea ports, which has halted exports of one of the world’s leading suppliers of cereals and cooking oil. The United Nations says the blockade could worsen world hunger.
Burnt grain ashes can be seen in a grain silo in Sivers’k, Donbas, on May 25th. Alex Chan / SOPA Images / LightRocket via Getty Images
Western countries have demanded that Moscow lift the blockade. Russia says Western financial sanctions on Russia are to blame for the food crisis, although it has not explained how this is related to its naval blockade on Ukrainian ports.
“We do not categorically accept these allegations. On the contrary, we blame Western countries for taking action that has led to this,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov told a news conference with reporters on Thursday.
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Peskov said Moscow expects Ukraine to accept its demands in future peace talks. He has demanded that Kyiv accept Russian sovereignty over the Crimean peninsula that Moscow seized in 2014 and recognize the independence of the territory claimed by the separatists.
Kyiv rejects these demands. In a speech to dignitaries in Davos, Switzerland, German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said that Russian President Vladimir Putin should not be allowed to dictate the terms of any peace agreement.
“There will be no peace dictated,” Scholz said. “Ukraine will not accept this, nor will we.”