Russian forces are bombing Ukrainian positions in the symbolic eastern city of Severodonetsk with intense artillery shelling, airstrikes and ongoing street-to-street battles, according to the governor of Luhansk province.
After a Ukrainian counterattack over the weekend, Russian troops sought to regain the initiative. They were trying to move forward to displace Ukrainian fighters from their last fortress in an industrial zone. Between 10,000 and 11,000 civilians remain in the city.
District Governor Sergei Haidai said the tough street battles continue with varying degrees of success. “The situation is constantly changing, but the Ukrainians are repelling the attacks,” he said.
The neighboring city of Lisichansk, a few kilometers south of Severodonetsk, was “completely destroyed”, he added. “Russian shelling has intensified significantly in the last 24 hours. They are using scorched earth tactics, “he said, adding that a school and a market were hit and the college building was demolished.
Map of the positions of the troops in Severodonetsk and Lisichansk.
The Kremlin wants to declare victory in Severodonetsk, which will give it full control over the province of Lugansk. When Vladimir Putin launched his invasion on February 24, he promised to “liberate” parts of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions that are not yet in separatist hands.
Russia’s Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu said on Tuesday that 97% of the latter region is under Kremlin control. He said his troops were advancing from Popasna, 30km south of Severodonetsk. They have taken Liman, Svyatohirsk and 15 other cities, he said.
However, Moscow is progressing slowly overall. Seven weeks after launching a full-scale military operation in Donbass, it failed to capture the key cities of Slavyansk and Kramatorsk or encircle Ukraine’s eastern army, as it had hoped.
In its latest intelligence briefing, the defense ministry said Popasna’s Russian offensive had “stalled in the past week” and that it was preparing to move from the city of Izyum to the northwest. So far, however, it has not made a breakthrough or failed to “translate tactical achievements into success at the operational level,” the ministry said.
As neither side prevails on the battlefield, there seems little prospect of negotiations. Most observers in Kyiv now expect the war to continue in the summer at least until the end of the year.
In an interview with the Financial Times, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said he “simply does not see the preconditions for ending the war.” The victory meant rebuilding “all” of Ukraine, including Crimea – annexed by Russia in 2014 – and separatist-controlled areas, he suggested.
The president had harsh words for his French counterpart. On Saturday, Emmanuel Macron said he would “not humiliate Russia” – remarks seen in Kyiv as meaning Ukraine would have to accept further loss of sovereign territory in exchange for a peace deal with Moscow.
“Some people want to be leaders. To be a leader, you don’t have to think of yourself as one, but act like a leader, “Zelenski said. He added: “How can we achieve a ceasefire on the territory of Ukraine without listening to the position of [this] state and without listening [the] the position of the leader of this country? This is very, very surprising.
“We will not humiliate anyone,” Zelenski told the newspaper. “We will respond in kind.”
Russia’s war in Ukraine: recent events.
On other fronts, Russia continued to shell civilian areas. Two people were killed and three were injured in an attack on the Nikolaev region, which borders Russian-occupied Kherson. The city is hit daily. Russian fire damaged office buildings, stadium and school.
Ukrainian troops have made some progress in recent weeks on this southern front line. On Tuesday, it turned out that Russia was withdrawing some of its forces from the town of Melitopol in the Zaporozhye region and sending them to Kherson. The city – taken in February – is now completely cut off, with fleeing residents unable to contact residents who still live there.
After a short pause, Russia again bombed Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second city in the northeast. One person was killed and three were injured in the latest Russian strike, Mayor Igor Terekhov said. Moscow “does not leave Kharkiv alone and constantly keeps people in fear,” he added. Nearby villages seized by Ukraine last month are now under constant fire.
Ukraine’s General Staff said on Tuesday that Russia continues to suffer significant equipment losses. This includes 1,390 tanks, 3,416 armored vehicles, 694 artillery pieces, 207 multiple rocket launchers, 125 surface-to-air missiles, 177 helicopters, 212 aircraft, 553 drones and 13 naval ships.
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