Mounting Russian forces on Thursday overwhelmed two more villages in eastern Ukraine and closed in on the city of Lysychansk amid a slow but steady advance through Ukraine’s industrial heartland.
Lysychansk and small areas of sister city Severodonetsk represent the last hurdle in Russia’s quest to control the Luhansk region. The fall of Loskutivka and Rai-Oleksandrivka comes a day after Russia invaded the villages of Pidlisne and Myrna Dolyna.
Oleksiy Arestovych, adviser to the Ukrainian president, acknowledged that “the threat of a tactical Russian victory (in the region) is there, but they haven’t done it yet.”
The Luhansk and Donetsk regions make up the Donbas region, home to Russia’s breakaway “republic.” After failing to take the capital of Kyiv in the early days of the war, Russia has made no secret of its redirected efforts to control the Donbas.
Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai told The Associated Press that the Russians were “burning everything” in their drive to encircle the Ukraine fighters. “The Russians are advancing without trying to save ammunition or troops, and they are not running short either,” Haidai said, adding: “They have an advantage in heavy artillery and in number of troops.”
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latest developments
►European Union leaders approved Ukraine’s candidacy for membership on Thursday, starting the beleaguered nation on a year-long path to cement a closer relationship with the West as it tries to distance itself from its Russian invaders.
►The United States will send an additional $450 million in military aid to Ukraine, including more medium-range rocket systems, officials said Thursday.
‘Heavyweights who are simply fighting each other’: how the war is entering a new phase
After its initial military humiliation, Russia has regrouped in Ukraine and focused its anger on the east with relentless bombing, giving Moscow a boost as the war moves into a grim new phase.
With its vast supply of artillery, armor and troops, Russia now has an advantage, experts say. The fighting in Ukraine has shifted to the eastern part of the country, its mineral-rich industrial heartland. Russian-backed separatists have fought for control of the region, known as Donbas, since 2014.
“About 20% of the Ukrainian territory has been de facto annexed,” said Seth Jones of the Center for Strategic and International Studies. “They replaced the currency with the ruble in many areas, they replaced the educational curriculum, including Russian history. The carefully selected local authorities are Russian.”
But Ukraine still has potent advantages, including a fierce will to fight and new Western weapons.
The direction of the conflict is likely to become clearer over the summer, when Russia is likely to try to consolidate its gains in the Donbass region. However, experts believe that local resistance, the steady stream of Western weapons and Russian incompetence suggest they will have a hard time holding their ground. read more here.
—Tom Vanden Brook
Contributing: The Associated Press
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