JAKARTA - Ukraine signaled its troops to withdraw from the city of Sievierodonetsk on Friday, the scene of weeks of fierce fighting, a move that would be a significant setback in the fight against a Russian invasion.
The governor of Lugansk province, where Sievierodonetsk is located, Serhiy Gaidai said troops in the city had received orders to move to new positions. However, he did not reveal whether they had done so or where exactly they were going.
"Staying in a shattered position for months just to stay there makes no sense", Gaidai said on Ukrainian television.
"The troops must be withdrawn", he said.
Gaidai spoke just as the Russian invasion, which began on February 24, entered its fourth month, sparking a conflict that has now killed thousands of fighters and civilians, uprooted several million people, and left Ukrainian cities blown up by Russian artillery and air strikes. The war has also triggered a global energy and food crisis.
Some of the war's toughest battles have taken place in Sievierodonetsk, where street fighting has raged for a month with Russia struggling to take more land.
The fighting is key for Russia to establish control over the last remaining part of the Ukrainian-held province of Lugansk, which together with Donetsk makes up the Donbas region, Ukraine's industrial heartland.
The fall of Sievierodonetsk would leave only Lysychansk, its sister city on the west bank of the Donets Siverskyi River, still under Ukrainian control.
It is well known that Russia's tactics since its forces failed to capture the capital Kyiv in the early stages of the war have involved the fierce bombing of cities followed by attacks by ground troops.
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Analysts say Russian troops have suffered heavy casualties and are facing problems in leadership, logistics, and morale. Despite this, they surrounded the Ukrainian resistance and made additional gains in the east and south.
Separately, Ukraine's general staff said on Friday, that Russia fired tanks, mortars, artillery, and jets, and stepped up air strikes near Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk and nearby towns. Reuters could not immediately verify the report.
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