Street fights in Severodonetsk, counter-attack in Kherson
Severodonetsk Mayor Oleksandr Stryuk said on June 9 that 10,000 residents were still trapped in the city. That’s 10 percent of the city’s pre-war population
The Ukrainian side said on June 9 that Ukrainian forces were trying to advance in the fighting on the streets of the Donbas town of Severodonetsk, but that they needed more artillery to repel Russian heavy fire and change the course of the battle.
Reuters quotes the Ukrainian Defense Ministry as saying that Ukrainian forces counterattacked in the Kherson region and set up a new platform.
In the first days of Russia’s attack on Ukraine, Russia captured a large part of Kherson region.
At the same time, the battles for the eastern city of Severodonetsk have become the bloodiest scene of the war.
“Russia has thrown all its forces here”
Observers say Russia has concentrated its main intervention force in this direction, and both sides are suffering heavy losses.
Severodonetsk and Seversky are the last territories Russia wants to seize in the Luhansk region of Lisichansk on the opposite bank of the Donets River.
Ukrainian Security Council Secretary Oleksiy Danilov told Reuters on June 9 that Russian troops had deployed all their military forces in the area.
“They do not feel sorry for their own people, they send new victims to the massacre from one end. They are firing on our servicemen day and night. “
“We have been ordered to maintain our positions.”
According to Petro Kusik, commander of Ukraine’s Svoboda National Guard Battalion, Ukrainians are drawing Russians into street battles to undermine Russia’s artillery superiority:
“Yesterday was a good day for us. We counterattacked and repulsed their forces in one or two blocks in several places. Yesterday (June 8), the occupiers inflicted heavy losses. If this happens every day, this battle will end soon. “
However, the commander also stressed that his forces suffer “catastrophic” damage due to the lack of artillery to respond to Russian fire.
According to him, additional artillery forces could radically change the situation on the battlefield:
“But even without all this, we are in a good position. We have been ordered to maintain our positions, and we maintain these positions. If you only knew what our surgeons are doing to save the lives of our soldiers without the necessary equipment. ”
Those who do not leave their homeland
Severodonetsk Mayor Oleksandr Stryuk said on June 9 that 10,000 residents were still trapped in the city. That’s 10 percent of the city’s pre-war population.
Russian forces are attacking from the north and south of western Severdonetsk, trying to blockade Ukrainian forces.