Ukrainian army controls ‘half’ of Severodonetsk

Ukraine assured Sunday that its army controlled “half” of Severodonetsk, a key city in the east of its territory and current epicenter of fierce fighting in the vast coal basin of Donbass.

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The governor of the Lugansk region, Sergey Gaidai, however, said he expected a major counterattack by Russian troops in the coming days.

“Our armed forces cleared half” of Severodonetsk of Russian troops there, he said in an interview broadcast on social media.

“Half the city is under the control of our defenders,” he added.

This industrial center is the largest settlement still in Ukrainian hands in the Lugansk region, where Russian soldiers have been stepping forward in recent weeks following withdrawing or being driven from other parts of Ukraine, including surroundings of the capital Kyiv.

After being initially repelled by a Russian offensive on Severodonetsk, the Ukrainians gradually regained ground there.

Eight Russians were taken prisoner there, said Mr. Gaïdaï, according to which the Russian soldiers received the order to seize this city by June 10 as well as a key communication route linking two localities. neighboring Lysytchansk and Bakhmout.

“We expect that in the near future they will throw away all the reserves – in men and equipment – ​​to which they now have access to accomplish these two tasks,” continued the governor.

“In the next five days, there will be a sharp increase in the number of heavy artillery bombardments” from the Russians, concluded Mr. Gaïdaï.

The Russian Ministry of Defense for its part assured on Saturday that the Ukrainian troops “having suffered critical losses in the fighting for Severodonetsk (up to 90% in several units)” were withdrawing towards Lyssytchansk.

The Russian army is trying to conquer all of Donbass, which has been partly in the hands of pro-Russian separatists since 2014.