Serhi Heyde, the head of the Luhansk region’s military administration, said Ukraine now controls about half the city of Severodonetsk in eastern Ukraine, after taking back some land from Russia.
Heyday was responding to a question about an intelligence assessment by Britain’s Defense Ministry that predicted Russia would take control of the Luhansk region within two weeks.
Two weeks is unrealistic. It’s just untrue,” Heyday said on Friday. “At first it was a difficult situation, and somewhere around 70% [of Severodonetsk] Were caught, now we have already taken them back somewhere about 20%. ,
The Russians “before managed to capture most of the city, but now our forces have pushed them back. They are taking really heavy losses,” he said in further comments on Saturday.
“The difficult situation remains throughout the region, and Severodnetsk is now the center of hostilities only because the Russian army – as we understand it – is throwing all its reserves in this direction,” Heyde said.
Heyde said the Ukrainian military currently lacks long-range artillery, which could be a game-changer for fighting in the East.
“They’re moving step by step. They’re destroying everything from artillery, planes, mortars, tanks,” Heyde said. “But as soon as we have enough Western long-range weapons, we will drive their artillery away from our positions. And then, believe me, the Russian infantry will just move on. ”
Street fighting continues in Severodnetsk, and Ukrainian troops are still “trying to push the enemy back,” he said.
On Friday, the Russians “tried to encircle Ukrainian troops” in the city and neighboring Lysychansk, but were unsuccessful. In total, Ukraine repulsed a total of nine attacks by the Russians in the Donbass region in the past 24 hours.
Headey said Russia was also blowing up bridges to prevent Ukraine from sending reinforcements to the region.
“They are really afraid that the success of our defenders will develop, and this can be done when ammunition, weapons and reinforcements are provided in time. This is the first thing they are afraid of,” Headey said. “The Luhansk region is a big outpost for us, we are holding it now.”
Hede said three people, including a mother and child, died on Friday in Hirske, about 30 km (18.6 meters) south of Severodnetsk.
The humanitarian situation in Severodnetsk is “very difficult”, Heyde said, as they are currently unable to evacuate people safely or bring humanitarian aid to the city.