Putin’s Terminators fight to take key city
But will tanks meet same fate as this burnt-out beast?
THE battle for the east of Ukraine intensified yesterday as Vladimir Putin ordered his troops to encircle a key town and turn the tide of his failing invasion.
Russia deployed its feared Terminator tanks and inflicted heavy bombardments to try and take Severodonetsk in the Luhansk region.
The lethal BMP-T vehicles are equipped with anti-tank missile launchers, grenades and machine guns, and were made to support tanks in urban areas.
If Russian forces take the settlement, they will move to cut off Ukrainian troops in the Donbas after the final surrender of Mariupol on Saturday.
Volodymyr Zelensky warned that the outcome of the gruelling conflict in the east would determine whether his country’s fate lies with the West or under Moscow’s control.
Yesterday Severodonetsk remained in Ukrainian hands after troops rebuffed an attack ‘from four directions’.
However Serhii Haidai, governor of the region, warned the situation was growing increasingly dire with the only functioning hospital having just three doctors and supplies for ten days.
Elsewhere in the town, he added that Russian shelling had killed 12 civilians and injured 40 more.
President Zelensky described the relentless bombardment of the settlement as ‘brutal and absolutely pointless’ as he compared it to Russia’s flattening of Mariupol. He added that the situation was ‘extremely difficult’ but praised Ukrainian troops for holding off Putin’s forces.
In a video address, he told the nation: ‘Every day that our defenders take away from these offensive plans of Russia is a concrete contribution to the approach of the main day. The desired day that we are all looking forward to and fighting for – Victory Day.’ Britain’s
Ministry of Defence yesterday confirmed that the Terminator tanks had ‘likely’ been deployed to Severodonetsk after they were spotted there on Friday.
But military chiefs said a ‘maximum of ten’ had been sent to the town, meaning they are ‘unlikely to have a significant impact’ on Putin’s campaign.
The nearby city of Sloviansk is also vital to Russia’s plans. But, despite fierce bombardment, it is also yet to fall. It has been estimated that up to 100 Ukrainian soldiers could die each day defending the eastern regions.
Yesterday Russian defence spokesman Major General Igor Konashenkov said that air strikes in the south and east had destroyed three command posts, four ammunition depots and 13 areas where troops and equipment were gathered.
It came as Ukrainian rebels reportedly injured the Russianbacked mayor of the occupied city next to Europe’s largest nuclear power station.
Andrei Shevchuk, who was appointed mayor of Enerhodar near the Zaporizhzhia nuclear plant, was said to be in intensive care last night.
Dmytro Orlov, who Ukraine recognises as mayor of the city, said they had ‘accurate confirmation’ that Shevchuk and his bodyguards were injured in an explosion.