The militias of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People’s Republic in eastern Ukraine, with the support of the Russian Army, control a third of Severodonetsk, the last major city in that region held by Ukrainian troops, its leader, Leonid Pasechnik, said on Tuesday (31.05.2022).
“It can already be said that we control a third of the city,” Pasechnik told Russia’s official TASS news agency, commenting on the situation in Severodonetsk, the scene in recent days of fierce fighting. He admitted that the offensive is not advancing as fast as he would like, a circumstance that he explained with the desire to preserve the maximum of the city’s infrastructure.
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Ukraine denounces an operation to “clean” Serverodonetsk
Ukrainian authorities have acknowledged that “part” of the city is already controlled by Russian forces and that the situation “is extremely difficult.” The head of the Luhansk Regional Administration, Serhiy Haidai, has said that Russian forces “are being repelled.” “They cannot move freely,” he said, according to the Ukrainian news agency Ukrinform.
“I don’t think there’s a risk of being surrounded. There is still the possibility of retreat towards Lisichansk, so there is no threat of encirclement,” said Haidai, who denounced that Russian forces are planning an operation to “clean” the surroundings of Severodonetsk.
“War is not an easy thing”
Pro-Russian leader Pasechnik said his “main task is to liberate Severodonetsk and Lisichansk. In these sectors, according to the military, the grouping of Ukrainian troops is composed of about 10,000 troops.” The pro-Russian separatist leader added that “the liberation of every locality has been a problematic matter.” “War is not an easy thing. It took a long time to, for example, release Rusbizhne and Popasna,” he acknowledged.
Pasechnik avoided making a forecast about how long it will take to take over the entire Luhansk region, of which militias and the Russian army control 95%. “The enemy, who feels that his defeat is approaching, behaves quite aggressively. It opens fire both on our towns that are next to the front and on the newly liberated ones,” he explained.
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