LVIV, Ukraine – Days after Ukrainian officials confirmed that their forces had withdrawn from the devastated industrial city of Sievierodonetsk, the city’s exiled mayor on Monday painted a bleak picture. about life for those staying there, in an eastern pocket where Russian forces have focused their attention in recent weeks.
“There is no good news that I can share with you,” the mayor, Oleksandr Striuk, said at a morning news conference as he described a devastated Russian-occupied city and in places leveled by artillery.
About 7,000 to 8,000 civilians, out of 160,000 people before the war, remained in the city when it fell into the hands of Russian forces on Friday, Mr. Striuk said, based on information from sources still inside. Their humanitarian situation is dire, with infrastructure razed and supplies of clean water and food in short supply.
Ukrainian officials said earlier that about 90% of the city’s buildings had been destroyed.
Ukrainian forces withdrew westward toward Lysychansk, the twin cities on the opposite bank of the River Siversky Donets. But with no bridges still standing, they had to use whatever materials could be found in Sievierodonetsk to retreat, Mr. Striuk said.
He and other local officials were forced to flee elsewhere in Ukraine as the situation deteriorated. Those who remain will be allowed to evacuate only to Russian-administered cities, as is the case in other captured regions.
The mayor acknowledged there is a certain symbolic importance for Sievierodonetsk and that it became a regional administrative center in Luhansk province after pro-Russian separatists occupied part of the region in 2014.
He also said that Russian forces are now capable of focus their efforts on Lysychanskthe last city in Luhansk was in Ukrainian hands.
After abandoning a thwarted attempt to capture Kyiv early in the war, Russian forces are seeking to gain full control of Donbas, the eastern region that includes the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces where its allies break away. Their territory was held.
On Monday, Serhiy Haidai, governor of Luhansk, urged civilians to evacuate Lysychansk, calling the situation “very difficult”.
“Due to the real threat to life and health, we call for immediate evacuation,” he said in a post on the social messaging app Telegram. “Save yourself and your loved ones. Take care of the kids. Make sure that you will be taken care of in the evacuation cities on the territory of Ukraine “.
Ukraine’s General Staff said in a statement on Monday that Russian forces were trying to blockade Lysychansk from the south, with artillery support and shelling of civilian infrastructure. and military in the region.
Even after Ukraine withdrew from Sievierodonetsk, Russia’s offensive in the east did not slow down. The Russian military carried out 20 attacks on 12 settlements in the Donetsk region between Sunday and Monday, with civilian casualties recorded, according to a Telegram post by the Ukrainian National Police.
Much of Ukraine, even areas to the west and north that have escaped the worst of the fighting in recent weeks, remained in place on Monday after tensions rose as a result of the escalation. suddenly in attack Kyiv and other areas on weekends.
Dozens of rockets were fired from Belarusian airspace toward Kyiv and the surrounding area, and at least one person was killed in the city.
