Ukrainian troops were set to withdraw from the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk after weeks of intense bombardments and street fighting, the regional governor said on Friday, as Russian advances raised fears they could be cut off and surrounded.
Russian troops fully occupied a town south of Lysychansk, which lies across the Siverskyi Donets River from Sievierodonetsk, Ukrainian officials said. Moscow claimed it had encircled about 2,000 Ukrainian troops in the area.
The Russian advances appeared to bring the Kremlin closer to taking full control of Luhansk province, one of Moscow’s stated war objectives, and set the stage for Lysychansk to become the main frontline city on that front.
Ukrainian forces had for weeks held out against an onslaught in Sievierodonetsk, trying to wear down Russian troops through attrition and buy time for the arrival of heavy weapons supplies from the West.
Luhansk governor Serhiy Gaidai said troops in Sievierodonetsk would have to be withdrawn and they had already received the order to move to new positions.
“Remaining in positions smashed to pieces over many months just for the sake of staying there does not make sense,” Gaidai said on Ukrainian television.
Friday also marked four months since Russian President Vladimir Putin sent tens of thousands of troops over the border, unleashing a conflict that has killed thousands of combatants and civilians, uprooted millions people, and seen cities blasted to bits by Russian artillery and air strikes.
