Ukraine war: Russia advances into Kiev's Sievjerodonetsk bastion - Putin's army plans decisive battle
Created: 2022-06-21Updated: 2022-06-21, 09:40
By: Bedrettin Bölükbasi
In the Ukraine war, Putin's troops primarily relied on artillery.
According to experts, their strength is "insufficient" for taking Sievjerodonetsk.
The news ticker.
Ukrainian attack
on oil rig off Crimea
: Pro-Russian authorities on the peninsula report an attack on an oil rig.
Kiev
reports progress in
Cherson
: According to Ukrainian information, Russian troops have been repulsed.
Siegerodonetsk battle
: According to experts, Russia lacks sufficient artillery strength.
This
news ticker on military developments
in the Ukraine war is constantly updated.
You can read the background to the Ukraine crisis here.
Update from June 21, 9:09 a.m
.: According to Ukrainian information, Russian troops penetrated into the industrial area in the heavily contested city of Sievjerodonetsk, where their own military only controlled the Azot chemical plant.
Now the Institute for the Study of War made a forecast.
Photo from June 15: Impressions from Seyerodonetsk © Alexander Reka/ITAR-TASS/Imago
According to the experts, the coming week will be crucial in the battle for the area.
Putin's troops are planning a "last concerted attempt," the institute reports, citing information from the Ukrainian side.
This is reported by the
Kyiv Independent
.
In Sieverodonetsk in the Luhansk region, "the Russians control most of the residential areas," Mayor Oleksandr Stryuk said on June 20.
But "more than a third of the city remains controlled by our armed forces".
The Institute for the Study of War (ISW) is a US think tank dealing with defense and foreign policy issues.
Ukraine-News: Kyiv accuses Moscow of capturing civilians
Update from June 21, 7.40 a.m .:
Ukraine accuses Russia of holding more than 1,500 civilians captive.
This is reported by the
Kyiv Independent
, citing Deputy Ukrainian Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk.
"They are in prisons in Rostov, in Kursk, being held as prisoners of war when they shouldn't be." Rostov and Kursk are cities in Russia near the Ukrainian border.
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Ukraine War: Apparently civilians killed in Kharkiv and Donetsk
Update from June 21, 6:55 a.m .:
Three civilians died in the Kharkiv region.
The governor of the Kharkiv region, Oleh Syniehubov, spoke of a Russian attack on the village of Kutuzivka and the town of Balakliya.
Two other civilians were injured in the industrial district of the city of Kharkiv.
Update from June 20, 10:15 p.m.:
Civilian victims in Ukraine.
In the Donetsk region, three people were killed by Russian shelling, said Pavlo Kyrylenko, governor of the region, on Telegram, two others were injured.
Ukraine War News: Russian troops enter Sievarodonetsk industrial zone
Update from June 20, 8:26 p.m .:
In the Ukraine conflict, according to Ukrainian information, Russian troops have penetrated into the industrial area of the heavily contested city of Sievjerodonetsk.
Fighting is already going on there, wrote the governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Hajday, on his Telegram channel on Monday evening.
According to this, Ukrainian troops only control the territory of the Azot chemical plant.
Surrounding towns are also under constant fire.
According to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Wereshchuk, around 300 civilians were still in the chemical plant.
However, the situation is constantly changing, she said on Monday, according to the Ukrainian agency Ukrinform.
The Ukraine War in Pictures - Destruction, Resistance and Hope
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For some time now, Russian troops have been concentrating on capturing the administrative center of Sievarodonetsk in the Luhansk region.
On Monday morning, Ukrainian authorities admitted the loss of the village of Metyolkine, southeast of the city (see update of June 20, 9:45 a.m.)
Ukraine War News: Ukrainian attack on oil platform off Crimea - first reported attack
Update from June 20, 2 p.m.:
Russia has accused the Ukrainian armed forces of having shelled oil platforms off Crimea.
"This morning the enemy attacked the Chernomorneftegaz drilling platforms," Moscow-appointed governor of the peninsula Sergey Aksionov told Telegram.
Accordingly, five out of twelve people were saved, three were injured.
The others are still being sought.
The information cannot be independently confirmed.
Aksionow did not provide any more specific information about which platforms were affected.
The Chernomorneftegaz company exploits several gas and oil fields in the Black and Azov Seas off the Crimean coast.
It is the first reported attack on Crimea's offshore oil infrastructure since Russian military operations in Ukraine began in late February.
Ukraine War News: Kyiv reports progress in Cherson - apparently also successes in Zaporizhia
Update from June 20, 11 a.m.:
According to Ukrainian information, Kiev’s military is making initial progress in the Cherson region in southern Ukraine, which is currently occupied by Russian troops.
According to this, Ukrainian troops managed to drive Russian soldiers out of their first line of defense in front of Kherson, Serhiy Khlan, adviser to the head of the Ukrainian military administration in Kherson, told the Ukrainian broadcaster Espreso TV.
Previously, the Ukrainian head of state Volodymyr Zelenskyy promised to recapture southern Ukraine.
According to Khlan, Russian soldiers have retreated to the second and third lines of defense.
Apparently, Russian troops are also struggling in the Zaporizhia region, while the Ukrainian side says they are now launching attacks.
For example, Rodion Kudryashov, a commander of the Azov Brigade, told Espreso TV that Ukrainian troops were shifting from "active defense to offensive actions."
In doing so, the “enemy” was pushed back as far as possible, since it was difficult for them to break through the Ukrainian positions.
In the coming weeks they want to "break" the Russian units in the Zaporizhia region, said Kudryashov.
Ukraine War News: London Sees Weak Russian Air Force - Ukraine Admits Metyolkine Loss
Update from June 20, 9.45 a.m .:
According to British assessments, Russia's difficulties with its advance in Ukraine are also due to the weaknesses of its air force.
It is very likely that this is one of the most important factors behind the very limited Russian successes, the British Ministry of Defense said.
So far, the air forces have tended to avoid risks in their maneuvers and have not been able to achieve air supremacy.
This has increased the pressure on the Russian ground forces, which are now increasingly exhausted.
According to British estimates, the Russians have combat-capable aircraft, but are not properly trained for modern air force operations.
For years, Russian air force training was said to have focused more on impressing high-ranking military officials than on training dynamic deployment scenarios for different troops.
Meanwhile, Ukrainian authorities have acknowledged the loss of the village of Metyolkine, southeast of the administrative center of Sievarodonetsk in the east of the country.
"Control of Metyolkine near Sieverodonetsk has been lost," said the military governor of the eastern Ukrainian region of Luhansk, Serhiy Haiday, on his Telegram channel.
Ukraine-War-News: Heavy fighting in the Donbass - artillery is increasingly used
First report from June 20:
Moscow/Munich - In the Ukraine conflict, the fighting between the troops of Russian ruler Vladimir Putin and the Ukrainian military for control of the Luhansk city of Sievjerodonetsk in the Donbass is escalating.
Artillery is mainly used on both sides.
This map shows where the Ukraine War is raging
.
However, according to military experts, Russia's artillery superiority is not enough to capture the administrative center of Sieverodonetsk.
In addition, the experts see a crucial mistake on the part of Moscow, which prevents it from attacking Ukraine more vigorously.
Ukraine-War-News: Battle for Sievjerodonetsk - Putin's artillery strength probably "insufficient" for capture
"Russia's concentrated artillery capability, coupled with arguably weakened infantry units, remains insufficient to make Russian advances in Sieverodonetsk," read the latest analysis by the US think tank Institute for the Study of the War (ISW) on Sunday evening.
Russian troops continued to fight for control of Sieverodonetsk but made little progress on Sunday.
According to the experts, Russia is likely to continue trying to encircle the former city and to cut off supplies for the remaining Ukrainian forces, who are largely holed up in the Azot chemical plant.
However, there is currently little progress on this project.
In addition, Moscow is preparing an offensive on Sloviansk.
The Slovjansk-Kramatorsk area is considered the center of the Ukrainian defense forces in the Donbass region.
Ukraine war news: Russia hinders its own success - problems because of designation as "special operations"
According to the ISW, Moscow is also hindering the success of its invasion by continuing to speak of a "special military operation" instead of a war.
This prevents Russia from mobilizing to generate more forces.
In addition, the Kremlin lacks the legal means to punish soldiers who refuse to be deployed.
In making this assessment, the ISW also refers to the British Ministry of Defence.
The US think tank also spoke of successful Ukrainian counterattacks in the Zaporizhia region.
Because of Ukraine's successes, Russia was forced to "send reinforcements to this weakened sector of the front line."
(bb with dpa)
