JAKARTA - Ukrainian troops may need to withdraw from the main frontline city of Lysychansk to avoid a siege after Russian troops captured two villages to its south, regional governor Serhiy Gaidai said Thursday.
The withdrawal of Ukrainian troops from Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk, the last two Ukrainian-held towns in Lugansk, would bring Moscow closer to one of its main war goals of capturing all of that territory.
Divided by rivers, the towns have become the main battleground in Russia's assault on the industrial heart of the Donbas and the fighting is approaching a "fierce climax," a top official said Wednesday.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian armed forces on Thursday confirmed the disappearance of Rai-Oleksandrivka and Loskutivka, about 5 km (3 miles) from Lysychansk, and said that Russian troops were trying to encircle Ukrainian troops there.
It did not say how he would respond, but Gaidai's governor said Ukrainian troops might have to withdraw.
"To avoid a siege, our command can order the troops to withdraw to new positions. All of Lysychansk is within their range of fire. It is very dangerous in the city," Gaidai said, quoted by Reuters on June 24.
The Ukrainian military hardly ever shares details about its strategy, but the chief commander of the armed forces Valery Zaluzhny admits. Ukraine will have to make defense adjustments.
"We were forced to make defensive moves, to occupy more advantageous lines and positions. The price of freedom is high," Zaluzhny said in an online post that did not specify a specific area.
In an evening update, the Ukrainian military said Russian troops backed with additional reserves had resumed their offensive south of Lysychansk, after Ukrainian forces had earlier pushed them back.
The war has entered a phase of brutal attrition in recent weeks, with Russian troops concentrating their extraordinary artillery arsenal in this Donbas pocket, which Moscow claims in the name of the separatists.
Gaidai said Lysychansk could still be reached by road, so the evacuation of civilians could continue. Russia's TASS news agency earlier quoted Russia-backed separatists as saying the city was under siege and cut off from supplies.
Meanwhile a senior Ukrainian defense official said Ukrainian troops were holding out in the part of Sievierodonetsk, which is mostly controlled by Russian troops.
Even though supply lines were damaged, these troops were still able to receive weapons and ammunition and evacuate the wounded, said Oleksiy Gromov, deputy head of the General Staff's Main Operations Department.
Separately, Britain's Ministry of Defense said on Thursday Russia's recent advances were putting Ukrainian forces holding out in Lysychansk-Sieverodonetsk under increasing pressure.
"However, (Russia's) efforts to achieve a deeper siege to take western Donetsk (region) remain stalled," the ministry said in a daily update on Twitter.
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