[ad_1]
More than 100 days into the war, Ukrainian and Russian troops remain mired in heated combat for Severodonetsk, the Luhansk area’s largest city where Kyiv still retains some control. The Ukrainian military said Monday that it had prevented Russia from seizing a strategic highway in the region, but the fight within Severodonetsk has worsened for the defenders, local officials said.
Here are some updates from across the country:
Severodonetsk: Prospects for Ukrainian forces defending the city have deteriorated, according to Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai, who compared the intensity of Russian shelling there to what occurred in the battered port city of Mariupol before it fell. But he wrote on Telegram on Monday that fighters were still holding on to an important industrial zone.
The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War (ISW) wrote in its Monday battlefield report that Moscow is likely to have control over most of Severodonetsk. But it is difficult to determine precise lines of control in urban warfare, the ISW cautioned.
Elsewhere in Luhansk: Regional police said Russia has shelled a humanitarian aid facility in Lysychansk, a city separated from Severodonetsk by a river. As of Sunday evening, authorities had not released information on potential casualties but said they were investigating the strike as a potential war crime. On the same day, 98 people were evacuated from Lysychansk, offering hope to a region that has faced relentless bombing in recent weeks.
Kyiv: For the first time in over a month, Russian rockets struck the Ukrainian capital, shattering the city’s tentative sense of safety. Russia’s Defense Ministry claimed its missiles destroyed tanks and other armored vehicles sent to Ukraine by Eastern European allies, but Ukrainian authorities denied this and accused Moscow of targeting civilian infrastructure. Britain’s Defense Ministry said Monday that Russia was probably attempting to disrupt the supply of Western military equipment to Ukrainian troops by striking rail infrastructure.
Mykolaiv oblast: Authorities in the southern region said intense Russian shelling continued Monday, after reports of a “mass rocket attack” early Sunday. The attack resulted in civilian casualties, the city council said in a preliminary report, though no further details were provided.
Mariupol: The bombed-out Black Sea city is under quarantine imposed by occupying forces, a Ukrainian official in exile said Monday. The Washington Post could not independently verify this claim. But the city’s destroyed water supply system, coupled with decomposing bodies and garbage littered across the streets, may be a breeding ground for cholera outbreaks.
Snake Island: British officials said that after the loss of the Russian warship Moskva in April, Moscow probably moved air defense assets — including SA-15 and SA-22 systems — to Snake Island in the western Black Sea to protect naval vessels in the area. Russia’s activities on the island are contributing to a maritime blockade and hindering Ukrainian trade, including grain exports, the officials added.
[ad_2]
Source link