Street battles in small industrial town in eastern Ukraine raging against Russian artillery mounds
The battle for Sheverodonetsk is being waged door-to-door as Ukrainian fighters look forward to delivery of heavy weapons that could “Turn the plate”, said today a Ukrainian commander.
Petros Kuzik, commander of the Sloboda (Freedom) National Guard battalion, stressed that street battles in the small industrial town in eastern Ukraine are raging against embankments of the Russian artillery endangering military forces on both sides.
Reuters has not been able to verify the situation on the ground at what it has become key battle in Russia’s war in Ukraine.
Moscow did not comment on Kuzik’s statements and stressed that Ukraine there are significant losses in the Donbas region, where Sheverodonetsk is located.
“We are fighting for every house and every street,” Kuzik told state television, describing battles in which Ukrainian fighters went from “blind defense to small counterattacks in some areas.”
“Yesterday was a success for us. We counterattacked and in some areas we managed to repel them by one or two blocks. In other areas, we forced them to leave, literally by one or two houses. “
He said that Ukraine hoped that Russian forces would reduce the intensity of the fires of artillery when street fighting began.
“When we took them to street fights, it worked for a while – they (their artillery) did not know where we were and where they were. “But now they are just covering both their own troops and our units with artillery fire.”
Kuzik said that the Ukrainian forces have a “catastrophic” lack of systems to deal with Russian artillery and need “serious technology” or heavy weapons to retaliate against the Russians.
Appearing to rule out a withdrawal of Ukrainian forces from the Lisitshanskthe “twin city” of Severodonetsk on the opposite bank of the river Siversky Donetsk, Kuzik said: “There is an order to hold positions and we hold them.”
