May 31, 2022 09:32
TASS news agency quoted a Moscow-backed separatist leader as saying that Russian forces had captured regarding a third of the Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk, but their offensive was taking longer than they had hoped.
Russian bombardment reduced much of Severodonetsk to ruins and Russian forces entered the southeastern and northeastern fringes of the city, but Ukrainian defenses slowed Russia’s broader campaign in the Donbass region.
“We can say that a third of Severodonetsk is already under our control,” TASS quoted Leonid Pasichnik, the leader of the Luhansk People’s Republic, as saying in a report on Tuesday morning.
He added to the official Russian news agency that fighting is raging in the city, but the Russian forces are not advancing as quickly as they might have hoped.
“But above all we want to preserve the city’s infrastructure,” he said.
The TASS news agency reported that the advance of the Russian forces was difficult due to the presence of several large chemical plants in the Severodonetsk region.
Source: agencies