Russia pushes to block 2nd city in east Ukraine Massive bombardment from Belarus, says Kyiv
Moscow missiles hit areas far from battle areas
Kyiv, June 25: Russian forces were trying to block a city in eastern Ukraine, the region’s governor said on Saturday, after a relentless assault on a neighbouring city forced Ukrainian troops to begin withdrawing after weeks of intense fighting.
Russia also launched missile attacks on areas far from the heart of the eastern battles. Serhiy Haidai, governor of Luhansk province, said on Facebook that Russian and separatist fighters tried to blockade the city of Lysychansk from the south.
The city lies next to Sievierodonetsk, which has endured relentless assault and house-to-house fighting for weeks. Russia’s Interfax news agency quoted a spokesman for the separatist forces, Andrei Marochko, as saying Russian troops and separatist fighters had entered Lysychansk and that fighting was taking place in the heart of the city. There was no immediate comment on the claim from the Ukrainian side.
Lysychansk and Severodonetsk have been the focal point of a Russian offensive aimed at capturing all of eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region and destroying the Ukrainian military defending it — the most capable and battle-hardened segment of the country’s armed forces. The two cities and surrounding areas are the last major pockets of Ukrainian resistance in Luhansk, 95 per cent of which is under Russian and local separatist control.
The Russians and separatists also control about half of Donetsk, the second province in the Donbas. Russian bombardment has reduced most of Sievierodonetsk to rubble and cut its population from 1,00,000 to 10,000. Some Ukrainian troops are holed up in the huge Azot chemical factory on the city’s edge, along with about 500 civilians.
Kyiv, June 25: Ukraine said it came under”massive bombardment” on Saturday from neighbouring Belarus, a Russian ally not officially involved in the conflict, the day after announcing a retreat from Severodonetsk.
Twenty rockets targeted the village of Desna in the northern Chernigiv region, Ukraine’s northern military command said, adding infrastructure was hit, but no casualties had yet been reported.
Belarus has provided logistic support to Moscow since the February 24 invasion, particularly in the first few weeks, and like Russia has been targeted by Western sanctions — but is officially not involved in the conflict.
“Today’s strike is directly linked to Kremlin efforts to pull Belarus as a co-belligerent into the war in Ukraine,” the Ukrainian intelligence service said.
The strikes came ahead of a planned meeting between Russian President Vladimir Putin and his Belarussian counterpart and close ally Alexander Lukashenko in Saint Petersburg on Saturday.