Kyiv. Russian forces expanded their takeover of eastern Ukraine yesterday by capturing the Donbas region’s Loskutivka and Rai-Oleksandrivka villages and fighting for control of Syrotyne, a crucial road outside the industrial city of Severodonietsk that could cut lines of communication and surround Ukrainian units at the front, military sources said yesterday.
“The enemy has captured the settlements of Loskutivka and Ray-Oleksandrivka”, located southeast of Lysychansk, the Ukrainian army general staff said in a statement; He added that Russia “is concentrating its main efforts on establishing full control of the city of Severodonietsk,” the administrative center of the Lugansk region, which before the war had about 100,000 inhabitants and that Ukrainian forces are trying to defend.
“The Russians are advancing without saving ammunition or troops, and they are not running out of either,” Serguei Gaidai, governor of the Luhansk region, told the Ap agency, adding that “they have an advantage in heavy artillery and number of soldiers”.
With its capture, the Russian troops penetrated further into the Donbas region, and would be close to surrounding the two urban centers of Severodonietsk and Lysychansk, separated by the Donietsk River.
The army general staff added that Russian troops “conduct offensive operations to encircle Ukrainian troops near Lysychansk and block the main logistics routes.” He added that “in the direction of Bakhmut, the occupiers are carrying out offensive operations in the direction of the Zolote and Vovochiyarivka settlements” and “try to seize the dominant highlands in the Berestove area in order to establish control on the highway between Bakhmut and Lysychansk.”
Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov tweeted that he received supplies from the United States of High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems (HIMARS), without specifying how many, which would reinforce his military arsenal to face the Russian military operation. These projectiles have a range of 80 kilometers, and according to Washington they exceed those of the Russian arsenal.
White House spokesman John Kirby said he will send a new $450 million in military aid to Ukraine, including more HIMARS rocket systems, tens of thousands of rounds of artillery ammunition and patrol boats.
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