Dhe city Sieverodonetsk According to its Ukrainian mayor, Olexander Strjuk, eastern Ukraine is now “entirely” occupied by Russian troops. “They try to establish their own order. As far as I know, they appointed some kind of commander,” Strjuk said on Ukrainian television. It was not mentioned where Strjuk was staying.
“After the withdrawal of units of our troops, the enemy has established itself in Sieverodonetsk,” the Ukrainian General Staff said in Kyiv in the evening. This is also the case in two suburbs and in Syrotyne, a village west of Metjolkine.
On Friday, the Ukrainian authorities announced the withdrawal of the Ukrainian army from the city. The capture of Sieverodonetsk in the Luhansk region is strategic for Russia to capture the entire Donbass, which includes the Donetsk region.
At about the same time as the mayor’s announcement, the pro-Russian separatists announced that their units and the Russian army were in control of the premises Asot Chemical Plant taken in Sieverodonetsk. More than 800 civilians who had sought shelter there were “evacuated,” said separatist spokesman Ivan Filipenko in the online service Telegram.
Around 70 percent of the buildings in Sievjerodonetsk have now been damaged. There is no electricity or gas for the 9,000 people who remain in the city, which once had more than 100,000 inhabitants.
Ukraine territories
Source: Infographic WORLD
Ukraine has grouped its troops in the city area, according to its military intelligence service Lysychansk, which is located opposite Sieverodonetsk on the other bank of the Severskyi Donets river. According to the pro-Russian separatists, troops also advanced to Lysychansk on Saturday. The Russian army and the militia of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic have marched into the city, said Andrei Maroshko, a representative of the pro-Russian separatists, in the online service Telegram. “There are street fights at the moment.”
Now there is a threat that the Russian troops will then move further west Kramatorsk and Sloviansk set their sights on eventually conquering the entire Donbass region, the industrial heartland of Ukraine. The Donbass has been partially under the control of pro-Russian separatists since 2014, who proclaimed the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics there.
An adviser to the Ukrainian president, Oleksiy Arestovych, said he does not expect Russian troops to take the entire Donetsk region. To do this, four cities would have to be conquered, he said according to the portal strana.news. The Slovjansk – Kramatorsk conurbation, where a good half a million people lived before the war, is considered to be particularly well fortified. There is the headquarters of the Ukrainian armed forces in the Donbass region.
Kyiv reports shelling from neighboring country
From the north, Ukraine reported rocket attacks near the cities on Saturday Zhytomyr, Chernihiv and Kharkiv. Russian forces fired nearly 30 rockets at a military infrastructure facility near Zhytomyr, Governor Vitaly Bunechko said. Almost ten missiles were intercepted and destroyed. At least one soldier was killed in the attack.
The small town is in the Chernihiv region Desna came under massive rocket fire, announced Governor Vyacheslav Tschaus. There were no injuries, but damage to the infrastructure. In Desna there is a training center for the Ukrainian infantry. According to the Ukrainian general staff, the Kharkiv region was also hit by rocket attacks.
The region Dnipropetrovsk was also shelled with artillery. According to Mayor Serhiy Sukhomlin, 24 rockets fell in the area around Zhytomyr alone – a large city west of Kyiv. A soldier was killed in the process.
The ex-Soviet republic of Belarus under ruler Alexander Lukashenko actually describes itself as neutral in the war that has been going on for more than four months. In the Lviv region (formerly: Lemberg), the military area in Yavoriv was once again the target of the attacks. According to Ukrainian sources, six cruise missiles were shot down by ships in the Black Sea. Four people were injured.
In the area of Khmelnytskyi According to their own statements, the Ukrainian air defense system was able to shoot down two missiles. The rubble should not have caused any damage. For this reported the area Mykolaivka in southern Ukraine a heavy attack.
“The extent of the damage and possible number of victims are still being examined,” said a spokeswoman for the administration. “But we do know that the port infrastructure, residential neighborhoods and recreational areas have been attacked by civilians.”
According to the Russian military, 80 Polish fighters in the ranks of the Ukrainian army have been killed in eastern Ukraine. A rocket attack on the “Megatex” zinc works in the city Kostyantynivka 80 Polish “mercenaries” have been liquidated, said Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov in Moscow on Saturday.
Russia describes all volunteers fighting on the side of Ukraine as mercenaries. Konashenkov also reported on a rocket attack on Mykolaiv in southern Ukraine, which killed 300 soldiers.
All in all, the lieutenant general put the Ukrainian losses from air, missile and artillery attacks alone at 780 “nationalists” within 24 hours. This information cannot be independently verified. Details of the ground offensive of the Russian troops in the Donbass did not name Konashenkov.
A nationwide air alert was triggered in Ukraine on Saturday night. This emerged from a corresponding overview of the situation in the country. As reported by the Ukrainian news site 24tv, there were reports of explosions from the city Zaporizhia in the southeast of the country – as well as from the central Ukrainian city Dnipro. The exact background was initially unclear.
Injured in rocket attack in western Ukraine
In a Russian missile attack on a military facility in Yavoriv According to the authorities, four people have been injured in western Ukraine. Russian forces fired six missiles from the Black Sea, Lviv region governor Maxim Kosizky said in a video message.
Four missiles hit the base, two were intercepted and destroyed by Ukrainian air defenses. According to the authorities, 35 people were killed and at least 130 injured in a Russian attack on a Ukrainian military training camp near Yavoriv in March.