Sievierodonetsk sinks further into chaos. This town in Luhansk Oblast in eastern Ukraine has been in the eye of the storm for several weeks due to a large-scale offensive by Russian forces. The latter are now launching infantry assaults to take control of the city center, even if the Ukrainian armed forces are still talking about “street fights”. A little apart, a pocket of resistance has organized itself on the vast site of the Azot chemical plant, where Ukrainian soldiers rub shoulders with civilians.
>> War in Ukraine: how the Russian army wins Sieverodonestk with wear
By calling on the soldiers to surrender
Moscow called on the military to stop their “absurd resistance” and hoist the white flag. And promised, according to a Russian official interviewed by the RIA Novosti agency, that prisoners of war will be treated in accordance with the Geneva Convention, “as happened earlier with those who went to Mariupol”. Forgetting to specify, however, that Ukrainian soldiers taken prisoner in Azovstal now face the death penalty in the self-proclaimed republic of Donetsk. Several Telegram channels evoke towing operations on the site of the Azot factory, with a call for surrender and a map of the humanitarian corridor for those who lay down their arms.
The Russian artillery is certainly much superior to that of the Ukrainian forces, but the latter have been resisting since this underground support, estimates the British intelligence, preventing “provisionally Russia to redeploy the committed units elsewhere”. Asked by the New York Times (in English)the presidential adviser Mikhaïlo Podolyak had explained that at this stage, the Ukrainian soldiers did not intend to leave the city, because it is “easier to maneuver, find cover and minimize casualties” in an urban environment.
By making civilians wait
The fate of civilians is at the heart of questions and the specter of a new Mariupol hovers. How many are there really in this factory? The NGO Norwegian Refugee Council identifies some 500 civilians (in English) refugees in the Azot factory, “almost completely cut off from all supplies”. According to the head of the administration of Sievierodonetsk, Oleksandr Stryuk, “540 to 560 people” now lie underground. The Russians announced the opening of a humanitarian corridor between 7 a.m. and 7 p.m. Wednesday, but continued fighting jeopardized the operation. “Only a 74-year-old grandfather came out”commented a Russian militiaman interviewed by the Interfax agency (in Russian). “No one told them there was an evacuation today.”
Separatists accused Ukrainian forces of firing mortars and tanks from the Azot factory. The Russian Defense Ministry also claims that Ukrainian forces took advantage of the humanitarian pause to “to regroup on more advantageous positions” and use civilians as “human shields”. A version denied by kyiv. A few days ago, Moscow refused to open an evacuation corridor between Sieverodonetsk and the twin city of Lysytchansk, denouncing an attempt by the Ukrainian authorities to withdraw their soldiers under cover of saving civilians.
By isolating the Ukrainian fighters
The fall of Sievierodonetsk and Lyssychansk, two twin cities with around 100,000 inhabitants, would allow Russian forces to target Sloviansk, in the Donetsk region, some 70 kilometers to the west. The three bridges that connect them have now been destroyed, according to the Institute for the Study of War American (in English)which risks isolating the Ukrainian fighters by preventing them from retreating to Lyssytchansk.
In turn, this could also complicate the potential advance of Russian forces towards Lysychansk, as these crossings represent a military and logistical challenge. The military governor of the region, Sergei Gaïdaï, does not intend to throw in the towel. “The Russian army loses hundreds of fighters, but finds reserves and continues to destroy Sievierodonetsk”, he wrote on Telegram. But “our soldiers hold the defense”.