Amid the advance of Russian troops in Donetsk province, in the Donbass region, authorities in the city of Sloviansk recommended this Wednesday (6) that the population leave the place as soon as possible. Before the start of the war, the municipality had approximately 100,000 inhabitants.
The guidance sounds like an admission of defeat for Ukrainian forces in the area, which has come under heavy attack since Moscow took control of Lugansk on Sunday — the move, a key Kremlin victory, paved the way for further advances. of Russia in eastern Ukraine.
“The enemy is bombing in a chaotic way, and the attacks aim to destroy the local population. There has not been a single day without bombing this week,” said Donetsk provincial governor Pavlo Cirilenko. “My main advice [à população de Sloviansk] is to leave.”
The city has been the target of bombing over the past few days, said Cirilenko. He accused the Russian military of committing “pure and simple” terrorism as they are targeting places where there are concentrations of civilians, which Moscow denies.
Approximately 23,000 people remain in Sloviansk, according to the city’s mayor, Vadim Liaj. He says at least 17 people have died and 67 others have been injured since the Russians intensified attacks in the region. Although he started the plan to evacuate civilians, the politician says that the city remains fortified and that the Russians, for now, are unable to advance.
In the words of the mayor, however, the “situation in Sloviansk is tense”, and the city’s fall seems only a matter of time. Also on Wednesday, Ukrainian military officials said the Russians were already mobilizing to take Kramatorsk to the south, and were also trying to take control of the main highway linking the provinces of Lugansk and Donetsk, which together form the Donbass.
The region was one of the arguments used by Russian President Vladimir Putin to invade the neighboring nation. He alleges that there, Kiev committed the crime of genocide against Russian citizens. The territory of the regions has been disputed by the two countries since 2014, when the Kremlin annexed the Crimean peninsula.
On other fronts in Donbass, the Russian Defense Ministry announced that the country had destroyed two US-made Himars rocket launchers (high mobility artillery rocket system, its acronym in English), as well as ammunition in depots. in eastern Ukraine.
According to Moscow, the launchers were delivered to the Ukrainian Army by the US and allied countries. The Russians further claim that they destroyed two ammunition depots that stored rockets for the launchers in a village south of Kramatorsk.
The Ukrainian government has rejected the allegations. On Twitter, he said the information was false and that the Ukrainian army continued to use US-provided Himars to inflict “devastating blows” on Russian forces. Ukraine received four Himars systems in July, according to a report by the European Council on Foreign Relations. Washington has pledged to deliver eight more rocket launchers later this month.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky endorsed the allegations in a video message. He said the country’s fighters were making “tangible attacks” against Russian logistical targets, including warehouses, which he said should affect Moscow’s offensive potential. “Finally, the western artillery began to work powerfully,” he said.
Outside of Donbass, bombers were also recorded in Kharkiv, Ukraine’s second largest city. According to the mayor, Ihor Terekhov, the region is the target of constant bombing and long-range missiles. “Russia is trying to demoralize Kharkiv, but it’s not going anywhere,” he said.
South of Kharkiv, the governor of Dnipropetrovsk said the region was also hit by missiles and shelling. Attacks were also reported in the port of Mkolaiv, according to Mayor Oleksandr Senkevych. The city has already lost about half of its pre-war population of half a million.
