Russian forces have completely occupied the strategic frontline city of Severodonetsk, the mayor of the eastern Ukrainian city said on Saturday. The news confirmed Kyiv’s biggest failure on the battlefield in more than a month, after weeks of some of the bloodiest battles in the war.
“The city is now under full Russian occupation. They are trying to establish order, as far as I know, they have appointed a commandant,” Mayor Alexander Struck said on national television.
Kirilo Budanov, Ukraine’s chief of military intelligence, told Reuters that Ukraine was carrying out a “tactical withdrawal” to fight from a higher position in Lisichansk, located on the opposite bank of the Seversky Donets River.
“Russia is using the tactics … it is using in Mariupol: erasing the city from the face of the earth,” Budanov said. “Given the conditions, keeping the defense in ruins and open fields is no longer possible. So the Ukrainian forces are going to a higher place to continue the defense operations. “
Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted a representative of the pro-Russian separatist militants as saying that Russian and pro-Russian forces had entered Lisichansk and were fighting in urban areas.
WATCH | What happened this week during Russia’s invasion of Ukraine:
What happened in the 18th week of Russia’s attack on Ukraine
Ukrainian forces appear ready to withdraw from Severodonetsk, while NATO Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg warns once again that Russia’s war in Ukraine could drag on for years. Here is a summary of the war in Ukraine from 18 to 24 June.
The fall of Severodonetsk – once home to more than 100,000 people and now a wasteland – was Russia’s biggest victory since taking over the port of Mariupol last month. He transformed the battlefield in eastern Ukraine after weeks in which Moscow’s huge advantage in firepower brought only slow profits.
Russia will now hope to push and seize more land on the opposite bank, while Ukraine will hope that the price Moscow pays for capturing the ruins of the small town will make Russian forces vulnerable to a counterattack in the coming weeks.
Lisichansk “was a horror,” said the evacuee
In the Ukrainian-controlled town of Pokrovsk in Donbas, Elena, an elderly woman in a wheelchair from Lisichansk, was among dozens of evacuees arriving by bus from the front lines.
“Lisichansk, it was a horror last week. We couldn’t stand it yesterday. Thanks to the soldiers who evacuated us from there. Otherwise it would have been,” she said. “I have already told my husband that if I die, please bury me behind the house.
A resident of Donetsk, Ukraine, carries a cat in a basket for pets and various belongings while leaving a damaged house on Saturday. (Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters)
Russian President Vladimir Putin sent tens of thousands of troops across the border on February 24, unleashing a conflict that killed thousands and snatched millions. It has also caused an energy and food crisis that is shaking the world economy.
After Russian forces were defeated in an attack on the capital Kyiv in March, it shifted its focus to Donbass, an eastern region made up of Luhansk and Donetsk provinces. Severodonetsk and Lisichansk were the last major Ukrainian bastions in Luhansk.
View of a damaged building in Donetsk, Ukraine, as seen on Saturday. (Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters)
The Russians crossed the river in force in recent days and advanced on Lisichansk, threatening to encircle the Ukrainians in the area.
The conquest of Severodonetsk was likely to be seen by Russia as an excuse for its transition from its early, unsuccessful attempt at “lightning war” to a relentless, painful offensive with the help of massive artillery to the east.
Moscow says Luhansk and Donetsk, where it has supported the 2014 uprisings, are independent states. He demanded that Ukraine cede the entire territory of the two provinces to separatist administrations.
Ukrainian authorities never had high hopes of holding Severodonetsk indefinitely, but hoped to ask for a high enough price to exhaust the Russian army and leave the invading forces vulnerable to a counterattack.
Missile strikes across the country
As the largest land conflict in Europe since World War II entered its fifth month, Russian missiles were also dumped in the western, northern and southern parts of the country.
“48 cruise missiles. At night. All over Ukraine,” Ukrainian President’s adviser Mykhailo Podoliak wrote on Twitter. “Russia is still trying to intimidate Ukraine, cause panic and make people afraid.”
Ukrainian soldiers are seen in Konstantinovka, in the Donetsk region of Ukraine, on Saturday – four months after the start of Russia’s large-scale invasion of its neighbor. (Marco Jurica / Reuters)
The governor of Lviv region in western Ukraine said six missiles had been fired from the Black Sea at a base near the border with Poland. Four hit the target, but two were destroyed.
In the north, the governor of the Zhytomyr region said at least one soldier had been killed in military strikes. In the south, the mayor of Nikolaev said five cruise missiles hit the city and nearby areas on Saturday.
Russia denies attacking civilians. Kyiv and the West claim that Russian forces have committed war crimes against civilians.
Ukraine’s top general, Valery Zaluzhny, wrote in the Telegram application on Saturday that US-supplied high-mobile artillery missile systems, or HIMARS, are already deployed and hit targets in Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine.
Asked about a potential counterattack in the south, Budanov said Ukraine should start seeing results “from August”.
“Just wait a minute and we’ll see what it brings,” he told Reuters.
The war will be discussed at the G7 summit in Germany
Despite the failures on the battlefield, Kyiv won the support of the West, which imposed sanctions on Russia and sent weapons to Ukraine.
The war has had a huge impact on the world economy and European security agreements, raising gas, oil and food prices, forcing the EU to reduce its strong reliance on Russian energy and forcing Finland and Sweden to seek NATO membership.
WATCH l The Ambassador of Ukraine speaks to CBC News about military aid, a “historic” EU nod:
The delay in military aid “costs the lives of our soldiers”: Ukrainian ambassador
Ukraine’s ambassador to Canada, Yulia Kovaliv, said Ukraine’s request for Canadian light armored vehicles was “under consideration”, but stressed that time was of the essence. “Every day of delay, unfortunately, costs the lives of our soldiers”
Leaders of the Group of Seven Democracies are expected to show long-term support for Ukraine and discuss how to tighten Russia’s bolts at a three-day summit in Germany that begins on Sunday.
The British Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who will take part, said he feared that Ukraine could face pressure to agree to a peace agreement and that the consequences of Putin making his way to Ukraine would be dangerous to international security.
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