KYIV —
Ukraine said on Monday that its forces have been pushed back from the center of
the eastern city of Severodonetsk, where fighting with Russia has raged for
weeks.
اضافة اعلان
“The enemy, with
support of artillery, carried out assault operations in the city of
Severodonetsk, had partial success, pushed our units away from the city
center,” the Ukrainian military said on Facebook.
Moscow-backed
separatist forces said the city had been “blocked” and called on Ukrainian
troops to “surrender”.
“Severodonetsk
has de facto been blocked after they blew up the last bridge yesterday which
connected it to Lysychansk,”
Eduard Basurin, a rebel representative, told
reporters in Donetsk on Monday.
“They have two
options: to surrender or die.”
He also said
Moscow-backed forces were carrying out an offensive on the key city of
Slovyansk from “west, north and east”.
Local governor
Sergiy Gaiday conceded “the Russians were partially successful at night” in the
city.
He said Moscow
forces control “more than 70 percent” of the city.
Gaiday said the
Azot chemical plant — where 500 civilians, including 40 children are taking
shelter — is being “heavily shelled” by
Russian forces.
“We are trying
to negotiate a humanitarian corridor” for the civilians, Gaiday said in a
separate video on Telegram.
He added that
the efforts had “for now no success”.
Gaiday earlier said
Moscow’s forces were “gathering more and more equipment” to “encircle”
Severodonetsk and nearby Lysychansk.
He said three
civilians were killed by shelling in Lysychansk, across a river from
Severodonetsk, in the last 24 hours, including a six-year-old boy.
The governor
said Ukrainian security services had exposed 50 “traitors” in Lysychansk, who
he said were sending information to Russian forces.
Presidential
advisor Mikhaylo Podolyak said on Monday that Kyiv needs “heavy weapons” to end
the war.
“Being
straightforward — to end the war we need heavy weapons,” he tweeted.
He listed what
he said the Ukrainian army needed: “1000 howitzers caliber 155 mm; 300 MLRS
(multiple rocket launchers); 500 tanks; 2000 armored vehicles; 1000 drones.”
He said Kyiv is
awaiting a decision on arms deliveries after Western defense ministers meet in
Brussels on June 15.
President
Volodymyr
Zelensky said late on Sunday that Ukrainian and Russian forces were
fighting for “literally every meter” in Severodonetsk.
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