Russia’s recent progress in eastern Ukraine could further embolden Putin.
POKROVSK, Ukraine — Russian and Ukrainian troops traded blows in fierce close-quarter combat Sunday in an eastern Ukrainian city as Moscow’s soldiers, supported by intense shelling, attempted to gain a strategic foothold to conquer the region. Ukraine’s leader made a rare frontline visit to the city of Kharkiv as he sought to assess the strength of the country’s defenses.
The deteriorating conditions raised fears that Sieverodonetsk could become the next Mariupol, a city on the Sea of Azov that spent nearly three months under Russian siege before the last Ukrainian fighters surrendered. “I feel boundless pride in our defenders. Every day, risking their lives, they fight for Ukraine’s freedom,” Zelenskyy wrote on the Telegram messaging app after the visit.
Serhiy Haidai, the provincial governor of Luhansk, said constant Russian shelling has created a “severe” situation in Lysychansk. “There are fatalities and wounded people,” he wrote on Telegram. On Saturday, he said, one civilian died and four were injured after a Russian shell hit a high-rise apartment building.
“None of us wanted to leave our native city,” she said. “But for the sake of these small children, we decided to leave.” The Institute for the Study of War, a think tank based in Washington, questioned the Kremlin’s strategy of assembling a huge military effort to take Sieverodonetsk, saying it was proving costly for Russia and would bring few returns.
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