According to the Ukrainian general staff, the Russian army is pulling together strong forces for an attack on the city of Sloviansk in the Donbas. The Ukrainian military spoke of up to 20 Russian battalion tactical groups (BTG) on Facebook last night. These are combat units with armored infantry, artillery and anti-aircraft defense, they number 600 to 800 soldiers.
Sloviansk is part of the eastern Ukrainian administrative region of Donetsk, whose complete conquest Russia has taken up in the 100-day war. The city is also in the rear of Sievjerodonetsk in the Luhansk region, which has been contested for days.
The military information was initially not independently verifiable. In Sieverodonetsk, the enemy continued to advance under cover of heavy artillery fire in the residential areas, but had only partial success, the report said. The Russian side announced that they had almost complete control of the city. On the other hand, the Ukrainian regional administration reported that the Ukrainian army had regained a fifth of the city with counterattacks.
