The Russian army has been trying for weeks to seize this industrial city in the Luhansk region, important for controlling the entire Donbass mining basin.
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The Russian offensive in the east overwhelmed the Ukrainian troops. But Ukraine could retake the key city of Sievierodonetsk “in two, three days”as soon as it has Western artillery weapons “long range”said Thursday, June 9 Serguiï Gaïdaï, governor of this region of eastern Ukraine.
>> War in Ukraine: how the Russian army wins the city of Sievierodonetsk in the Donbass
The Russian army has been trying for weeks to seize this industrial city in the Luhansk region, important for controlling the entire Donbass mining basin. It has regained ground there in recent days and, after a Ukrainian counter-offensive this weekend, is once again in control “largely” the city, the governor estimated on Wednesday evening.
“It’s a very hard, very difficult battle, probably one of the most difficult of this war”, President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Wednesday evening. According to him, “in many respects, the fate of our Donbass is decided there”. “Up to 100 Ukrainian soldiers” are killed and “500 injured every day” in battles with the Russian army, said Ukrainian Defense Minister Oleksii Reznikov.
The Ukrainians are constantly demanding long-range rocket launcher systems from the West, in greater numbers. The United States has already announced the dispatch of four Himars precision artillery systems to kyiv – with a range of some 80 km, slightly greater than that of similar Russian systems, according to experts. But Washington wants to make sure Ukrainian soldiers have a good grasp of these systems before sending them more, said US Chief of Staff General Mark Milley. The United Kingdom has also announced the dispatch of a similar rocket launcher system called MLRS.