Russian forces continue to shell Sieverodonetsk.
The city is largely in ruins, more than 90% razed to the ground according to local authorities, but Ukrainian troops still cling to it.
In recent hours, the Moscow army has intensified its strikes on the east of the city and the last quarters still held by the men of kyiv.
The unexpected counter-attack, initiated last weekend by the Ukrainian army, seems to have been stopped.
According to several analysts, Russian troops are advancing only very slowly, with street-to-street fighting and intense shelling.
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The Ukrainian fighters would be barricaded in the large Azot chemical plant, facing forces sometimes ten times greater in number according to the Ukrainian authorities.
In a statement, the owner of Azot, Group DF, explained that about 800 civilians had also taken refuge in the installations as well as 200 workers who had remained to
“ensure the protection of the highly explosive chemicals still on the site”
.
The fate of the city remained confused, even if kyiv's chances of retaining control for the time being appear to be reduced.
Tuesday evening, Serguiï Gaïdaï, governor of the Luhansk region, thus assured that holding this city was
“mission impossible”
.
“We may have to withdraw”
, he added Wednesday morning, before indicating that the city was
“largely under Russian control”
and that
“enormous destruction”
had hit Lyssytchansk.
The Ukrainian Ministry of Defense explained at the same time that the Ukrainian forces
“resist the attacks”
Russian.
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Sieverodonetsk has been at the heart of the Russian maneuvers for several weeks.
Its capture would give Russia near-total control of the Luhansk region, one of the two Donbass provinces, a symbolic victory as Moscow has made Donbass its official strategic target.
For the Russian Minister of Defense, Sergei Shoigu, the conquest is close because his forces now control
"97% of the territory"
of Luhansk.
Referendum
The future of Sieverodonetsk is linked to that of Lyssytchansk, its twin town only separated by a river.
The defense of Lyssytchansk, also massively destroyed but located high up, depends largely on the ability to supply it.
The city is now only connected to the rest of Ukraine by a single road, under constant threat.
Moscow claimed to have cut off this vital axis but Serguiï Gaïdaï denied it while acknowledging that it had become very dangerous and recommending that civilians avoid using it.
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The fall of the two cities would open to the Russians the road to Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, the big cities of the Donetsk region, 80 kilometers to the east.
But this offensive, if it occurs, promises to be long.
To the south, the invading forces made little progress from Popasna, blocked by the defenders.
To the north, however, they reached the gates of Sloviansk, largely deserted, after taking Izyum and more recently Lyman.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, however, promised on Tuesday that his men would continue
“the absolutely heroic defense of Donbass”
, with a vital need for more powerful weapons to stop the Russian steamroller.
The delivery of multiple rocket launcher systems, with a range of some 80 km, slightly greater than the Russian batteries, has been announced but it is unclear when the Ukrainians will be able to start using them.
To the south, where the fronts remained relatively stable, the Ukrainians continued to press around Kherson.
In the 60% occupied region of Zaporijjia, the administration imposed by the Russians has announced its intention to organize a referendum to demand its attachment to the
“great fatherland”
.
The relative calm of the past few days has allowed for the exchange of remains of soldiers killed in action.
kyiv confirmed that 50 bodies had been repatriated, including those of 37 men who fell in Mariupol.
