Ukrainian forces will not “give up” in Severodonetsk but may be forced to pull back to stronger positions within the embattled city, the regional governor said on Wednesday.
Serhiy Gaidai warned that Vladimir Putin’s army looks set to step up its bombardment of the industrial city in the eastern Luhansk province and to unleash a new onslaught.
“Fighting is still going and no one is going to give up the city even if our military has to step back to stronger positions,” he said.
He also braced communities in this part of the eastern Donbas region for even heavier Russian attacks.
“We expect the amount of shelling and bombardments of Lyshychansk and Severdonetsk to increase many times, huge offensives in the Severdonetsk and Popasna direction and attempts to once again cross the Siverskyi Donets River to create a bridgehead and further develop the offensive,” he added.
Early on Wednesday morning, British defence chiefs said it was unlikely that Russian forces had seized any “significant ground” in the battle for Severodonetsk in the last 24 hours despite attacking the city from three fronts.
The illegal and unprovoked invasion of Ukraine is continuing.
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The map below is the latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine - 08 June 2022
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They stressed that Ukrainian defences were “holding” despite Russian troops outnumbering the city’s defenders.
In its latest intelligence update, the Ministry of Defence in London added: “While Russia is concentrating its offensive on the central Donbas sector, it has remained on the defensive on its flanks.
“Ukrainian forces have recently achieved some success by counter-attacking in the south-western Kherson region, including regaining a foothold on the eastern bank of the Ingulets River.”
As Mr Putin’s generals pour even more troops and equipment into eastern Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky hailed the “absolutely heroic defence of Donbas”.
The situation in Sievierodonetsk, Lysychansk and Popasna remains the most difficult, he added.
His office said two people were killed and two wounded in Luhansk province in the past 24 hours, five civilians were wounded in Donetsk province, and four were killed and 11 wounded in the northern Kharkiv region.
He said Ukraine would launch next week a “Book of Executioners” to detail war crimes committed since the start of Mr Putin’s invasion on February 24.
“These are concrete facts about concrete individuals guilty of concrete cruel crimes against Ukrainians,” he said.
Russia denies targeting civilians and has rejected allegations of war crimes, both claims which fly in the face of numerous reports, footage and photographs from the conflict zone.
