Ukraine’s military says its forces remain in control of front-line town of Siversk
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A resident walking near a school building destroyed during Russian air strikes, on Nov 25, in the town of Slovyansk, in Ukraine's Donetsk region.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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- Ukraine's military denies Russian claims of capturing Siversk, stating their forces remain in control of the eastern town.
- Russian commanders told President Putin that they seized Siversk, a key step toward capturing Slovyansk in Donetsk.
- Russia claimed victory by cutting off logistics and outflanking Ukrainian troops, but Ukraine insists it still holds Siversk.
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KYIV - Ukraine’s military said on Dec 11 that its forces remained in control of the eastern front-line town of Siversk, dismissing a statement by Russian commanders that its troops had seized it.
“In the Slovyansk direction, the city of Siversk remains under the control of the Armed Forces of Ukraine,” the military’s Operation Task Force East unit wrote on Facebook.
“The enemy is trying to infiltrate Siversk in small groups, taking advantage of unfavourable weather conditions, but most of these units are being destroyed on the approaches.”
Earlier, President Vladimir Putin had thanked the Russian army, after commanders told him their forces had taken full control of Siversk, a long-time target for Moscow.
There was no immediate comment from Ukraine and Reuters could not verify the battlefield claim.
Commanders told the Russian leader that the capture of Siversk, a town with a pre-war population of over 10,000 people in the Donetsk region, was a stepping stone towards taking Slovyansk, one of the two biggest cities in Donetsk still under Ukrainian control.
They told the President that Ukraine had tried to defend Siversk with various trenches and fortifications, and that the Russian army had defeated it by choking off its logistics routes, outflanking its troops and carrying out targeted assaults.
“We understand that by creating this fortified area in the Seversk region and in the city itself, the enemy hoped that we would get bogged down in the assault on this city, thereby holding back our advance,” Mr Putin told commanders, using Russia’s name for the town.
“The enemy failed. But you succeeded in everything you planned and everything you set out to do. Congratulations.” REUTERS
