Russia is deploying military forces in eastern Ukraine to help capture a key city, a Ukrainian official said on Tuesday, as Moscow artillery placed a barrage aimed at crushing Ukrainian defence.
Luhansk Governor Serhi Haidai told The Associated Press that Russian forces control the industrial outskirts of Svyarodonetsk, one of two cities in the Luhansk region that are still in Ukrainian hands.
“The toughest street fight continues, with varying degrees of success,” Haidai said. “The situation is constantly changing, but the Ukrainians are repulsing the attacks.”
Russia is intent on capturing the entire eastern Donbass part of Ukraine, which is made up of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. Although Kremlin forces have superior firepower, the Ukrainian defenders – among them the country’s most well-trained forces – are engaging and have the ability to counterattack.
Moscow’s strategy has faced several setbacks, however, as Russia invaded Ukraine on 24 February, including a failed attempt to take Kyiv, the capital.
Moscow’s army also maintained an artillery barrage at Lisichansk, a town close to Svyarodonetsk, which is almost entirely controlled by Russian troops.
Haidai said Russian troops destroyed a local market, a school and a college building. He said the three injured have been sent to hospitals in other parts of Ukraine.
“Total destruction of the city is underway, Russian shelling has intensified significantly over the past 24 hours. The Russians are using scorched earth tactics,” Haidai said.
In total, in the last 24 hours, Ukrainian forces repulsed 10 Russian attacks, according to Haidai. His report could not be independently verified.
Ukraine continues to receive arms and ammunition from the West to help deter Russian attacks. That aid has become a target for Russian artillery and warplanes.
Russia claimed on Tuesday that its forces had taken away two artillery systems supplied by the United States and a howitzer supplied by Norway.
Major General Igor Konashenkov said Russian artillery barrages destroyed other Ukrainian equipment in the country’s east, while Russian Air Forces attacked Ukrainian troops and equipment concentrations and artillery positions.
Konashenkov’s claims could not be independently confirmed.
Meanwhile, in Kyiv, autopsies were planned on dozens of Ukrainian fighters killed at the Azovstal steelworks.
The bodies were returned to Ukraine by Russian occupiers of the fortress-like plant in the destroyed city of Mariupol, where their last-ditch stand became a symbol of resistance against Moscow’s invasion.
The Azov Regiment was one of the Ukrainian units that defended the steelworks for nearly three months before surrendering in May under relentless Russian attacks from land, sea and air.
It was not clear how many bodies could remain at the plant.