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| Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky |
International Military - Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the battle for the city of Severodonetsk could determine the outcome of the war in the eastern region of the country. Quoted from BBC.com Thursday (9/6/2022), In many ways, the fate of the Donbas is being decided there, he said as fighting with Russian troops and separatists continues to rage in the industrial area.
He said his troops managed to inflict heavy losses on enemy troops. But, according to top Ukrainian officials in the region, Ukrainian troops have been pushed back to the outskirts of the city. The governor of the Luhansk region, which forms Donbas along with neighboring Donetsk, Serhiy Haidai said Ukrainian special forces had withdrawn after Russia began leveling the area with artillery fire and air strikes.
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"Our troops now only control the outskirts of the city," he told local media. "But the fighting is still going on, our (troops) are defending Severodonetsk." "It is impossible to say that Russia is in complete control of the city," he added.
Haidai said about 15,000 civilians remained in Severodonetsk and the nearby city of Lysychansk. Russia said on Wednesday that Ukraine suffered significant losses in human resources, weapons and military equipment in the Donbas.
The focus of the war shifted eastward in late March after Russian troops withdrew from the area around the Ukrainian capital, Kiev. Most of the Donbas have been under Russian-backed separatist control since previous fighting in 2014-15.
Read Also: Zelensky Calls War in Severodonetsk Territory Very Difficult, Will Ukraine Surrender?
In another development, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres warned that the consequences for the world from the Russian invasion were worsening, with 1.6 billion people affected. "The impact of war on food, energy and financial security is systemic, severe and accelerating," he said.
Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24, saying it was seeking to demilitarize and "denazify," a claim that has been widely discredited. According to the United Nations, since the war began, at least 4,253 civilians have been killed and 5,141 injured along with thousands of soldiers on both sides, while more than 14 million people have fled their homes.
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