War: “It doesn’t make sense” – Ukrainians give up Sieverodonetsk

War: “It doesn’t make sense” – Ukrainians give up Sieverodonetsk

After weeks of fighting, Ukraine orders the withdrawal of its troops from the city of Sieverodonetsk. Russia is about to conquer the entire Luhansk region in eastern Ukraine.

On June 24, Russia’s attack on Ukraine was exactly four months ago – and on that day of all days the Ukrainian army had to admit defeat in the east of the country in the city of Sievjerodonetsk.

“It’s a situation now where it doesn’t make sense to hold out in shattered positions,” says Serhiy Hayday, the governor of the Luhansk region, whose administrative center is Sieverodonetsk. The Ukrainian defenders were ordered to withdraw.

The heavily contested and completely devastated industrial city was until recently one of the few parts of the area where Russian soldiers and pro-Russian separatists have not yet fully taken control. Should Luhansk fall completely, the Kremlin would have achieved one of its most important war goals.

Defeat and victory go hand in hand for Ukraine on this day. Only a few hours earlier, the former Soviet republic had been granted the status of a candidate country at the EU summit in Brussels. In the uniform Ukrainian news program, the withdrawal from Sievjerodonetsk is only briefly mentioned – the freshly gained EU perspective takes up significantly more space on Friday.

Ukraine no longer a «buffer»

An EU symbol with the words “Ukraine belongs to Europe” can now be seen at the top left of the television picture. President Volodymyr Zelenskyj is pleased that his country is no longer a “buffer” or “cushion” between East and West. But while optimism is being displayed in the capital Kyiv, the situation in the east is becoming increasingly serious.

For weeks, the Russian army has been concentrating on attacks in the Donbass. Almost two weeks ago, the Ukrainian side said that up to 100 soldiers from their own ranks fell every day across the country. If you continue fighting in Sievjerodonetsk, this number will increase massively, says the governor. Almost all houses there, about 90 percent, have been destroyed. Of the once around 100,000 inhabitants, only 7000 to 8000 are said to be left.

The city also made headlines again and again because apparently hundreds of civilians continued to hold out in the Azot chemical factory, which had been converted into an air raid shelter. What will become of them is unclear. In the neighboring city of Lysychansk on the opposite side of the Siverskyj Donets river, things also look bleak from a Ukrainian point of view: Russian troops have already advanced to the outskirts of the city. Several surrounding settlements are conquered.

Shortly before the attack at the end of February, Russian President Vladimir Putin recognized the separatist region of Luhansk as an independent “people’s republic”, amid widespread international protest, as did the neighboring region of Donetsk. Moscow wants to officially “liberate” both regions from Ukrainian nationalists – according to observers a pure pretext for the brutal war of aggression. In Donetsk, the Ukrainians still control around 40 percent of the territory.

Against the background of Russia’s military superiority in the Donbass, Ukraine has repeatedly demanded further and faster arms deliveries from the West. “Only our military victory will convince Russia to start serious peace negotiations,” Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba confirmed again on Friday in an interview with the Italian daily Corriere della Sera.

One thing is clear for Kyiv: All occupied areas should be recaptured, only then can there be peace. Moscow, on the other hand, is currently insisting on its maximum demands, such as the recognition of Luhansk and Donetsk as independent states and the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, annexed in 2014, as Russian state territory.

Despite the defeat in Sievjerodonetsk, a large-scale withdrawal from contested areas is not planned, according to Ukrainian sources. Losses are high, Governor Hajdaj admitted on Friday. But there is no war without casualties. “If we retreat everywhere, we will soon be fighting in the Carpathians.”

Source: Stern

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