Ignoring Russian Ultimatum To Surrender, Ukrainian Troops Continue To Defend Sievierodonetsk

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visits his troops at the front line near the city of Sievierodonetsk. (Source: president.gov.ua)

JAKARTA - Ukrainian troops ignored Russia's ultimatum to hand over the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk on Wednesday, while fighting to defend its sister city Lysychansk.

Sievierodonetsk, now mostly in ruins, had become the focal point of the war. On Tuesday, Russia called on Ukrainian troops hiding in a chemical factory there to lay down their weapons from Wednesday morning as they battle for control of eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine says more than 500 civilians, including 40 children, remain with soldiers inside the Azot chemical plant, sheltering from weeks of Russian bombardment. Russian-backed separatists in the area say up to 1,200 civilians may be inside.

The mayor of Sievierodonetsk, Oleksandr Stryuk, said Russian troops tried to storm the city from several directions, but Ukraine continued to defend it and was not completely cut off, even though all its river bridges had been destroyed.

"The situation is difficult but stable," he told Ukrainian television.

"The escape routes are dangerous, but there are several," he continued, without referring to the Russian ultimatum.

Separately, Moscow said it had opened a humanitarian corridor from Azot on Wednesday to allow civilians to flee into Russian-controlled territory. He accused Ukrainian forces of interfering with the plan and using civilians as human shields, which Kyiv denies.

"There are no obstacles for civilians to leave, except in principle decisions of the Kyiv authorities themselves," the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement. Reuters was unable to verify the claim.

Meanwhile, Serhiy Gaidai, governor of the Lugansk region that comprises Sievierodonetsk, said the Ukrainian army was defending the city and trying to stop Russian troops from capturing its sister city Lysychansk on the opposite bank of the Siverskyi Donets river. Reuters could not immediately verify the battlefield accounts.

Lugansk is one of two eastern provinces that Moscow claims on behalf of separatist proxies. Together they formed the Donbas, the industrial area where Russia has focused its attacks after failing to capture the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, in March.

As previously reported, the battle for Sievierodonetsk in Lugansk, a city of nearly 100,000 people before the war, is now the biggest fight in Ukraine as the conflict has become a war of attrition.

Ukraine is still trying to evacuate civilians after Russian troops destroyed the last bridge to the city. The fighting has changed hands several times over the past few weeks, and Ukrainian officials have given little indication that they will withdraw.

"We must remain strong. The more losses the enemy suffers, the less power he must have to pursue his aggression," said President Volodymyr Zelensky

Ukraine still holds Lysychansk, the sister city of Sievierodonetsk on higher ground on the west bank of the Siverskyi Donets river. However, with all bridges now cut, his troops acknowledged the threat that they could be surrounded.

However, Kyiv says 100-200 of its soldiers are killed every day, with hundreds more injured.