Over 90% of the city has been damaged and the defenders will have to withdraw to more fortified positions.
Ukrainian troops will have to withdraw from the largely-Russian controlled city of Sievierdonetsk in the Luhansk Oblast (province), Governor Serhiy Gaidai said in a TV interview Friday as the Russian invasion of Ukraine stretches into its 121st day.
“Remaining in positions smashed to pieces over many months just for the sake of staying there does not make sense,” Gaidai said.
The city is one of the last major remaining Ukrainian-controlled holdouts in Luhansk, in the Donbas region, and Russia has made considerable, albeit slow, advances there over the past several weeks.
According to Gaidai, over 90% of the city has been damaged and the defenders will have to withdraw to more fortified positions.
He said that the troops in the city “have already received the order to move to new positions,” but did not indicate whether they had already done so or where exactly they were going.
Earlier, Gaidai wrote on his Telegram that Ukrainian troops repelled a Russian attack on the southern outskirts of Lysychansk, the last fully Ukrainian-controlled city in Luhansk.
However, he added that Russia had taken control of the village of Mykolaivka, located near a key highway to Lysychansk, which has been the focus of heavy fighting.
Further, Gaidai said that Russian forces from helicopters have destroyed roads and bridges at the entrance of Lysychansk, with one bridge being severely damaged to the point that only lighter vehicles can pass over it, not trucks.
A Ukrainian army medic stationed in Lysychansk further said that an order to retreat “could come at any moment,” according to The New York Times.
Going against the grain
Russia has launched numerous attacks on the vital port city of Mykolaiv in central Ukraine throughout the invasion, including on Ukrainian grain terminals.
This was confirmed in newly declassified intelligence revealed over social media by US State Department spokesperson Ned Price.
“Newly declassified intelligence sheds light on Russian forces’ attacks on Ukrainian grain terminals – including an attack on the Nika-Terra Grain Terminal in Mykolaiv on or around June 4,” Price tweeted alongside images of the area. “The world must hold Russia accountable for its actions that undermine global food security.”
This comes amid a global food security crisis due to grain shortages as a result of the war.
Ukraine and Russia are two of the world’s biggest grain suppliers and the war has caused significant shortages, with many condemning Russian aggression as the cause.
The fighting continues
Overnight, Russian forces fired rockets at localities in Kryvyi Rih raion (district) in the Dnipropetrovsk Oblast in central Ukraine, Ukrainian state media outlet Ukrinform reported, citing Dnipropetrovsk Regional State Administration head Valentyn Reznichenko.
Russian fire also struck at infrastructure in the Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Interfax reported, citing the Zaporizhzhia Regional State Administration.
In addition, an illegal phosphorous shell was reportedly fired at a locality in the Sumy Oblast, resulting in a child being injured along with damage to infrastructure, Interfax reported, citing Sumy Regional Military Administration head Dmytro Zhyvytskyi.
Russian forces also fired on localities in the Chernihiv Oblast, Interfax reported, citing Chernihiv Regional State Administration head Vyacheslav Chaus.
Casualties
Russian forces have suffered considerable casualties over the course of the invasion.
According to the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, Russia has so far lost 34,530 soldiers, 759 artillery pieces, 241 MLRSs, 99 anti-aircraft systems, 216 aircraft, 183 helicopters, 622 drones, 14 ships, 1,507 tanks, 3,637 armored vehicles and 2,553 fuel tanks and other vehicles.
However, due to the nature of the war, accurate numbers of casualties on both sides are impossible to ascertain.
This is a developing story.
Reuters contributed to this report.