Ukrainian troops hold back Russia from taking priority city in Donbas

Ukrainian troops have held back Russian forces from taking a brutally fought over city in the Luhansk region as Moscow seeks to gain “full control” over the Donbas, regional officials said Tuesday.

The city of Sievierodonetsk in northeastern Ukraine has seen one of the biggest ground assaults since the war in Ukraine began in February.

Ukrainian head of the city administration, Oleksandr Stryuk, said the city had been split by Ukrainian and Russian forces fighting each other.

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“Unfortunately…the city has been split in half. But at the same time, the city still defends itself. It is still Ukrainian,” he told a local news outlet Tuesday. 

Russia first attempted to take the city through a massive shelling campaign that reportedly destroyed all the city’s critical infrastructure before it then launched its ground invasion. 

Thousands of Ukrainians have been unable to evacuate and Stryuk said they have been advised to take shelter as the deadly assault continues. 

Sievierodonetsk is a strategically important city for Russia as it looks to take over the Luhansk region, where separatist forces have been fighting Ukrainian troops since 2014.

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Taking the northeastern city would mean Russian troops had gained complete control over the Luhansk region and could then more easily push into northern Dontesk and potentially further west into Ukraine.

Despite Russia’s continuing assault on the city, Russian forces have not been able to encircle the defending Ukrainian troops.

Officials have warned that Russia will attempt to take Sievierodonetsk in an attempt to gain control before additional Western arms are able to help suppress its campaign there. 

“The Kremlin has reckoned that it can’t afford to waste time and should use the last chance to extend the separatist-controlled territory because the arrival of Western weapons in Ukraine could make it impossible,” Ukrainian military analyst Oleh Zhdanov said.

It is unclear at this time what weapons the Ukrainian forces are apparently awaiting, or if any are on the way.

Russia has slowly made gradual gains in eastern Ukraine, but its brutal campaign has come at a cost for its forces. 

The U.K.’s defense ministry said Monday that Russia had suffered “devastating losses among its mid and junior ranking officers.”

Earlier this month the defense ministry further estimated that Russia had lost a third of its ground combat forces first committed to its “special military operation” in February.

Ukrainian defense officials have estimated Moscow’s troop losses to be more than 30,000.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.