Ukrainian forces are back in the face of Moscow’s most significant advance as Russian troops have captured the centre of the railway hub city of Lyman and besieged the nearby strategic town of Severodnetsk in eastern Ukraine.
Despite clear Russian progress on two major fronts in the war on Friday, Ukrainian officials insisted that its forces were still fighting to take control of the northwestern and southeastern parts of the city of Lyman and the eastern Donbas region. The new defensive lines remain firmly in place.
The progress of the Russian military shows how the pace has changed in recent times, and Ukrainian officials are renewing their appeal for more sophisticated Western-supplied weapons to counter Moscow’s firepower, adding to the seriousness of fighting in the region. are depicted.
Ukraine’s foreign minister made a request for “arms, arms and arms again”, warning that without a new injection of foreign weapons, Ukrainian forces would not be able to stop Russia’s progress in the east.
Severodonetsk and nearby Lysychansk. They are the last area under Ukrainian control in Luhansk – one of two provinces that make up the Donbas, and where Moscow-backed separatists have controlled some of the areas for eight years.
“The fighting takes place on the outskirts of the city. The massive artillery shelling doesn’t stop, day and night,” Severodnetsk Mayor Oleksandr Stryk told the Associated Press.
“The city is being systematically destroyed – 90 per cent of the buildings in the city are damaged.”
The mayor said the attack was underway in the northeastern part of the city, where Russian reconnaissance and sabotage groups tried to capture the Mir hotel and its surrounding area on Friday.
The war has killed at least 1,500 people in the city since Russia’s invasion on February 24, the mayor said, adding that about 12,000 to 13,000 people live in the city.
Those killed were those killed in shelling or fire caused by Russian missile attacks, as well as those who suffered from shrapnel wounds, untreated diseases, drug shortages or were trapped under rubble, according to the mayor.