The Ukrainian military may have to “withdraw” to stronger positions in the eastern city of Severodonetsk amid heavy fighting in the city and frontline villages in the south as Russia pursues a breakthrough in Donbass, regional leaders said.
Sergei Haidai, the governor of Luhansk, said the Russians were trying to take the city by Friday, while the road from neighboring Lisichansk to Bakhmut, 30 miles southwest, was shelled too often to be used.
“The struggle is still going on and no one will give up the city, even if our military has to withdraw to stronger positions. This will not mean that someone is giving up the city – no one will give up anything. But it is possible [they] he will be forced to retire, “he said in a television interview.
But in his channel in the Telegram, the governor insisted that the retreat was not planned. “Do not give birth to betrayal. Do not spoil the mood of the armed forces! Nobody will betray Severodonetsk! ” he said, adding that Ukraine’s defenders would fight for “every inch”.
Ukrainian advisers say Severodonetsk and Lisichansk are not strategic cities and aim to degrade the Russian military by fighting hard for them. But they are the only remaining parts of the Luhansk region that are not under Russian control.
Russia changed its plan for invasion in April after a failed attempt to seize the major cities of Kyiv, Kharkiv and Odessa. The focus has shifted to the Donbass, made up of Luhansk and Donetsk oblasts, the latter of which remains rather under Ukrainian control.
The Ministry of Defense in Moscow said: “The Ukrainian group in Donbass suffers significant losses in manpower, weapons and military equipment” and said it had killed 480 people overnight in fighting in Donbass and elsewhere in the country.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a one-night update that Russia was trying to “attract more resources to Donbass” – arguing that Moscow should turn to reinforcements because of the strength of the resistance.
The British Ministry of Defense said in its morning update that Russia was attacking Severodonetsk and the Ukrainian pocket behind it “from three directions”. He added that “Ukraine’s defense is behaving”, saying: “It is unlikely that any of the countries has won significant positions in the last 24 hours”.
The Ukrainian military has reported intensified air strikes, plus heavy shelling, rocket and mortar fire around Bakhmut, which humanitarian agencies say is becoming increasingly inaccessible to non-military traffic.
Both countries continue to suffer heavy casualties, although it is impossible to obtain accurate estimates. Ukrainian authorities said 100 or even 150 people a day were killed in the fighting, while Zelensky said at night that “Russia pays almost 300 lives a day” since the invasion began on February 24th.
Fighting continued around Nikolaev as Ukraine continued to try to organize limited counterattacks against the occupied city of Kherson. Russia has said it shot down two MiG-29s and a Mi-8 helicopter in the region, plus 11 drones.
Ukraine said Russia was trying to distribute passports in the occupied Kherson region by offering a payment of 10,000 rubles (£ 132) as an incentive. The Kiev Center for National Resistance said the same amount was being offered in the neighboring Zaporizhia region to collect “personal data” – but that the “vast majority” of the population refused to comply with the occupation administration.
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Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Ukraine’s responsibility is to solve the problem of resuming grain supplies – halted by the Black Sea naval blockade led by Moscow’s navy – at a press conference Wednesday with Turkish counterpart Mevlut Cavusoglu.
“We declare daily that we are ready to ensure the safety of ships leaving Ukrainian ports and heading for the Bosphorus Bay. “To solve the problem, the only thing that is needed is for Ukrainians to release ships from their ports, either by demining them or by marking safe corridors,” he said.
Ukraine says it has no faith in the Russians and has no intention of trying to open its ports except as part of a broader international agreement. Meanwhile, a Russian news agency reported that 11 wagons of grain taken from Ukrainian silos in areas occupied by Moscow forces had been taken to Crimea.
On Tuesday, Russian Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu announced that a road corridor between Russia and Crimea had been opened, passing through Ukrainian territory occupied since February 24th. The port of Mariupol, the site of the fiercest battles earlier in the war, was now being demined and cargo ships were arriving.
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