Since the fall of Severodonetsk last week, after several weeks of Ukrainian resistance, fighting has raged in the twin city of Lysychansk, where Russian forces have been engaged in “same incessant and indiscriminate bombardment of civilian neighborhoods”observe the New York Times.
“The occupants are destroying the houses one after the other, with heavy artillery and other weapons”said Serhiy Haidai, governor of the Luhansk region, quoted by the daily.
Si Lyssytchansk tombe, “the entire Luhansk region – which together with Donetsk forms the province of Donbass – could pass under Russian control, constituting another strategic victory for Vladimir Putin”warns The Guardian.
The assault by Russian forces had intensified as early as Friday, as troops from Moscow led the offensive “from four directions”reports The country. A pro-Russian representative from the Luhansk region claimed that the Russians not only entered the city, but also carried out ‘mopping up operations’ in several surrounding neighborhoods”.
The Ukrainian General Staff had confirmed that “the Russians attacked with heavy artillery the few positions that the Ukrainians still occupied in Lysytchansk” and that the aggressors “tried to surround” kyiv forces from the south and west.
“Totally surrounded”
On Saturday, the fighting would have finally ended in a victory for Moscow. According to Andrei Marochko, spokesman for the pro-Russian forces in the region, “Luhansk People’s Militia (pro-Russian) and Russian forces have occupied the last strategic heights” from the city, “which allows us to confirm that Lyssytchansk is completely surrounded”.
kyiv hastened to deny these statements, through National Guard spokesman Ruslan Muzychuk: “Fighting is raging near Lysytchansk, but luckily the town is not surrounded. It is still controlled by Ukrainian forces”.
But according to an analysis by the Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW), the information provided by Muzychuk on the situation in Lysychansk is likely “obsolete or erroneous”. The ISW report, published on Saturday evening and taken up by the Washington Postevokes a withdrawal “deliberate” Ukrainian forces and images showing pro-Russian forces “taking a leisurely stroll” in neighborhoods of the city.
In the aftermath of strikes that killed at least 21 civilians on Friday in the Odessa region, Russian forces also targeted the town of Mykolaiv, located “on a key axis” leading to the port city, reports the BBC. “The Russian Defense Minister assured that his planes had destroyed five Ukrainian command posts and several ammunition depots”adds the British broadcaster.