Sieverodonetsk mayor claims Russian forces had taken half of city

SLOVIANSK, Ukraine (Transatlantic Today) — The mayor of Severodonetsk, in eastern Ukraine, told The Associated Press early Tuesday that Russian troops had occupied half of the city, which is crucial to Moscow’s aspirations to quickly conclude the conquest of the industrial Donbas area. 

“The city is being ruthlessly destroyed block by block,” Oleksandr Striuk stated. He claimed that violent street combat and artillery fire continue to endanger the lives of approximately 13,000 residents who remain in the damaged city, which originally housed more than 100,000 people. 

The mayor claims that over 1,500 inhabitants have died of various reasons since Russia’s assault on Ukraine in late February, but that it is impossible to monitor civilian deaths amid the round-the-clock bombardment. According to ABC NEWS, evacuation operations from Severodonetsk have now been suspended due to bombardment. 

The city’s electricity supply has been turned off, and residents are in desperate need of food, medicine, and water, according to the mayor. 

Sievierodonetsk is crucial to Russia’s attempts to retake the Donbass region before more Western armaments arrive to strengthen Ukraine’s defense. Separatists supported by Moscow already controlled territory in the area and have been battling the Ukrainian military for the past 8 years. 

The battle for Severodonetsk has been regarded by military observers as a race against the clock for the Kremlin. The city, which is 90 miles (145 kilometers) south of the Russian frontier, is located in the Luhansk region’s final enclave of Ukrainian government influence. 

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated in his nightly video address that the scenario in the Donbas remained “extremely difficult” since Russia has deployed its army’s maximum military capabilities there. 

A Russian missile attack on the city of Sloviansk, west of Severodonetsk, killed at least 3 people and injured 6 others overnight, according to Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko’s Facebook post on Tuesday morning. Many buildings were damaged, including a school. The roadway between 2 apartment buildings extensively pockmarked by shrapnel was highlighted by a crater. 

One building’s stairs and floor were covered in blood. 

Olena Voytenko, 59, a resident, claimed she knew one of the victims, a man whose residence was set on fire in the incident. He was allegedly burned alive, according to her. 

Mikhaylo Samoluk, another local, reported the strike happened at 1:30 a.m. 

Shelling in adjacent Luhansk claimed the lives of 2 individuals and injured 4 others, according to Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai, who spoke to Telegram on Tuesday. Haidai did not say when or where the attack took place.