Ukrainian troops may have to withdraw from the main frontline city of Lysychansk to avoid being surrounded after Russian forces captured two villages in the south, regional governor Serhiy Gaidai said.
The withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk, the last two cities in Luhansk to be occupied by Ukraine, would bring Russia closer to one of its main war goals, which was to conquer the entire region.
Divided by a river, the cities have become a major battleground in the Russian attack on the industrial heart of Donbas, and the fighting is approaching a “fierce climax,” a top official said on Wednesday.
On Thursday, the General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces confirmed the loss of Rai-Oleksandrivka and Loskutivka, about 5 km from Lysychansk. It said Russian forces were trying to encircle Ukrainian troops there.
It did not say how it would respond, but Governor Gaidai said Ukrainian troops may have to withdraw.
“To avoid encirclement, our command could order the troops to withdraw to new positions,” he said on television.
“All of Lysychansk is within range of their fire. It’s very dangerous in the city.’
The Ukrainian military rarely shares details about its strategy, but Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces Valery Zaluzhny admitted Ukraine needed to make defensive adjustments.
“We have been forced to conduct a mobile defense, to take more advantageous lines and positions,” Zaluzhny said in an online post that did not name specific areas.
“The price of freedom is high.”
In an evening update, the Ukrainian army said Russian forces, supported by additional reserves, had resumed their offensive south of Lysychansk after Ukrainian forces had previously pushed them back.
The war has entered a difficult phase of attrition in recent weeks, with Russian forces concentrating overwhelming artillery firepower on this part of the Donbas, which it claims on behalf of separatists.
Gaidai said Lysychansk can still be reached by road, allowing civilians to leave the city.
Russia’s TASS news agency had previously quoted Russian-backed separatists saying the city had been surrounded and cut off from supplies.
Meanwhile, a senior Ukrainian defense official said Ukrainian forces are holding out in a part of Sievierodonetsk largely controlled by Russian troops.
Despite damage to supply routes, these troops could still receive weapons and ammunition and send the wounded away, said Oleksiy Gromov, deputy chief of the general staff’s main operational division.
On Thursday, the British Ministry of Defense said that Russia’s recent advances are putting Ukrainian forces in Lysychansk-Sieverodonetsk under increasing pressure.
“However, Russia’s (Russian) efforts to achieve a deeper encirclement to capture the western Donetsk Oblast (region) continue to stall,” the ministry said in a daily update on Twitter.