KYIV (REUTERS) - Ukrainian forces pulled back to the outskirts of the industrial city of Sievierodonetsk on Wednesday (June 8) in the face of a fierce Russian assault, the regional governor said, another big swing in momentum in one of the bloodiest battles of the war.
Russia has concentrated its troops and firepower on the small eastern city in recent weeks to secure the surrounding province on behalf of separatist proxies.
Ukraine has vowed to fight there for as long as possible, saying the battle could help shape the war’s future course.
After claiming to have pushed Russians back and secured half of the city in a surprise counter-attack last week, the governor of the surrounding Luhansk region said on Wednesday afternoon that most of the city was again in Russian hands.
“...Our (forces) now again control only the outskirts of the city. But the fighting is still going on, our (forces) are defending Sievierodonetsk, it is impossible to say the Russians completely control the city,” Mr Serhiy Gaidai told the RBC-Ukraine media outlet.
He said earlier that Russian forces would step up their bombardment of both Sievierodonetsk and its smaller twin city of Lysychansk on the west bank of the Siverskyi Donets River.
Ukrainian police released footage showing the evacuation of elderly people from Lysychansk. Evacuations had been cut for nearly a week by shelling of the main road out.
Russian forces have 10 times more equipment than Ukrainian troops in some areas of Sievierodonetsk, Ukraine’s Defence Ministry spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk told a briefing.
Reuters could not independently verify the situation on the ground in Sieverodonetsk.
Moscow says it is engaged in a “special military operation”to disarm and “denazify” its neighbour. Ukraine and allies call this a baseless pretext for a war that has killed thousands, flattened cities and forced millions of people to flee.
Luhansk and the adjacent province of Donetsk form the Donbas, claimed by Moscow for its separatist proxies who have held eastern parts of the region since 2014.
Moscow has been attacking the Ukrainian-held part of the Donbas from the north, east and south in an effort to encircle Ukrainian forces in the area.
West of Siervierodonetsk in Sloviansk, one of the main Donbas cities still held by Ukraine, women with small children lined up to collect aid while other residents carried buckets of water across the city.
Most residents have fled but authorities say around 24,000 remain in the city, in the path of an expected assault by Russian forces regrouping to the north.
Ms Albina Petrovna, 85, described the moment her building was caught in an attack, which left her windows shattered and her balcony destroyed.
“Broken glass fell on me but God saved me, I have scratches everywhere...,” she said.
Russia has turned its focus to the Donbas since its forces were defeated on the outskirts of Kyiv in March.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s office said two people were killed and two wounded in the Luhansk region in the past 24 hours, five civilians were wounded in the Donetsk region, and four killed and 11 wounded in the Kharkiv region.
In Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second-largest city, residents were cleaning up rubble from shelling the previous day.
Ukraine pushed Russian forces back last month from the city’s outskirts, but Russia still strikes it sporadically.
CCTV footage showed the moment late on Tuesday when a suspected missile struck a shopping mall that included a supermarket, scattering debris and goods.
Footage filmed from a drone showed a gaping hole in the roof of the large building.
“The supporting pillars are completely destroyed,” said supermarket manager Svitlana Diulina, adding that nobody had been hurt in the attack.
Mr Zelensky said Ukraine would launch next week a “Book of Executioners” to detail war crimes.
Ukraine has opened more than 16,000 investigations into possible war crimes, filed eight court cases and identified 104 suspects, its prosecutor general said on Wednesday. Moscow rejects accusations its forces have committed crimes.
The Russian-installed administration in the occupied part of Zaporizhzhia region in southern Ukraine plans to stage a referendum later this year on joining Russia, Russian news agencies reported. Russian-installed officials in Kherson province further west have also announced similar plans.
Ukraine and its Western allies regard any planned referendums in occupied areas as illegal and proof that Russia’s true aim is territorial conquest.
Reuters could not independently verify the situation on the ground.
Moscow says it is engaged in a “special military operation” to disarm and “denazify” its neighbour.
Ukraine and allies call this a baseless pretext for a war that has killed thousands, flattened cities and forced millions of people to flee.
‘Book of executioners’
Mr Zelensky said Ukraine would launch next week a system called Book Of Executioners to detail war crimes.
“These are concrete facts about concrete individuals guilty of concrete cruel crimes against Ukrainians,” he said.
Russia denies targeting civilians in Ukraine and rejects accusations that its forces have committed war crimes.
The conflict is having a massive impact on the world economy. Ukraine is one of the world’s biggest exporters of grain, and Western countries accuse Russia of creating a risk of global famine by shutting Ukraine’s Black Sea ports. Moscow denies blame and says Western sanctions are responsible for food shortages.
Russian attacks on agricultural sites in the Mykolaiv region were compounding a world-wide food crisis, Ukraine’s southern military command said on Facebook on Wednesday.
“Those who pretend to be concerned about the world food crisis are in fact attacking farmland and infrastructure sites where fires of considerable scale have broken out,” Ukraine’s southern military command said on Facebook on Wednesday.
The governor of the region that includes the port of Mykolaiv said weekend shelling had destroyed warehouses in one of Ukraine’s largest agricultural commodities terminals.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu said the Russian-occupied Ukrainian ports of Berdyansk and Mariupol were ready to resume grain exports. Ukraine says any such shipments from territory seized by Moscow would amount to illegal looting.
The World Bank approved US$1.49 billion (S$2 billion) in fresh funds to help pay wages for government and social workers in Ukraine as it and other countries deal with the damage to its economy.
‘Broken glass’
More than two weeks since a siege of the southern city of Mariupol ended, TASS news agency cited a Russian law enforcement source as saying that over 1,000 Ukrainian soldiers who surrendered there have been transferred to Russia for investigation.
My Zelensky’s office said two people were killed and two wounded in the Luhansk region in the past 24 hours, five civilians were wounded in the Donetsk region, and four killed and 11 wounded in the Kharkiv region.
Russian forces turned their focus to the Donbas after failing to take the capital Kyiv in March.
Last month they were also driven back from the outskirts of Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv. The city, near the Russian border, was hit by fresh shelling on Tuesday.
Mr Viacheslav Shulga, an employee at a pizzeria in the north of Kharkiv that was hit, said there had been hopes the restaurant could reopen soon.
“Everything is destroyed. We are removing equipment, there will be no business here for now,” he said.
In Sloviansk, about 85km to the west of Sievierodonetsk, women with small children lined up to collect aid while other residents carried buckets of water across the city as they prepared for advancing Russian forces.
“I am going to remain, I will not leave without my husband. He works here. That’s what we decided, we are staying,” said Irina, who did not provide her surname, as she waited with a child in a stroller outside an aid distribution centre.
Ms Albina Petrovna, 85, described the moment her building was caught in an attack, which left her windows shattered and her balcony destroyed.
“Broken glass fell on me but God saved me, I have scratches everywhere...,” she said.
