Home ›› 31 May 2022 ›› Back
Russian troops have entered the outskirts of the Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk, the regional governor said on Monday, describing fierce fighting over the ruins of a city that has become the focus of Moscow’s offensive.
Russia has concentrated its firepower on the last major population centre still held by Ukrainian forces in the eastern Luhansk province, in a push to achieve one of President Vladimir Putin’s stated objectives after three months of war.
Incessant shelling has left Ukrainian forces defending ruins in Sievierodonetsk, but their refusal to withdraw has slowed the massive Russian offensive across the Donbas region. Luhansk region governor Serhiy Gaidai said Russian troops had advanced into the city’s southeastern and northeastern fringes.
The Russians “use the same tactics over and over again. They shell for several hours - for three, four, five hours - in a row and then attack”, Gaidai said.
“Those who attack die. Then shelling and attack follow again, and so on until they break through somewhere.”
With temperatures rising, he said there was a “terrible smell of death” on the outskirts of the city. Ukrainian forces had also driven the Russians out of the village of Toshkivka to the south, potentially frustrating Moscow’s push to encircle the area. In a televised speech, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy described capturing Sievierodonetsk as “a fundamental task for the occupiers” and said Ukraine was doing all it could to halt the advance.
“Some 90 per cent of buildings are damaged. More than two-thirds of the city’s housing stock has been completely destroyed,” he said.
Counter attack
Kyiv says its forces pushed back Russian troops in recent days to defensive positions in three villages - Andriyivka, Lozove and Bilohorka - all located on the south bank of the Inhulets River that forms the border of Kherson.
