‘Ukrainian troops may have to retreat from flashpoint city’

Agencies

KYIV: Ukrainian forces battling Russian troops in a key eastern city appeared on the cusp of retreat on Wednesday, though the regional governor insisted they are still fighting “for every centimetre” of the city.

The urban battle for Sievierodonetsk testified to the painstaking, inch-by-inch advance by Russian forces as they close in on control of the entire Luhansk region, one of two that make up the industrial heartland known as the Donbas.

After a bungled attempt to overrun Kyiv in the early days of the war, Russia shifted its focus to the region of coal mines and factories. The Donbas has been partly controlled by Russiabacked separatists since 2014, making supply lines shorter and allowing Moscow to tap those separatist forces in its offensive there. But Russia also faces Ukraine’s most battle-hardened troops, who have been fighting the separatists for eight years there.

Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai acknowledged the difficulties in Sievierodonetsk on Wednesday, telling The Associated Press “maybe we will have to retreat, but right now battles are ongoing in the city.”

Earlier, on the Telegram messaging app, he said Ukrainian forces were fighting “for every centimetre of the city.”

He indicated they could pull back to positions that are easier to defend. The city across the river, Lysychansk, sits on higher ground.

Fears of cholera outbreak

Officials in the Ukrainian port city of Mariupol, captured by Russia after a months-long operation at the end of May, warned on Tuesday of an increasing risk of a deadly cholera outbreak, NBC news reported. Decomposing corpses and garbage have contaminated the water, according to Petro Andryushchenko, an adviser to the city’s mayor.

A nearby Russian city across the border is allegedly preparing infectious disease units in the case of a cholera outbreak, he said, the report added.