Russian forces are pushing deeper into areas around the city of Sievierodonetsk in Ukraine’s east, British military intelligence said, taking advantage of its larger numbers to overwhelm Ukrainian defenders and gradually seize territory.
The latest update from the United Kingdom’s defense ministry also said Russia is deploying more units and troops to Ukraine amid heavy fighting in the Donbas, the industrial heartland of the country that has been the focus of the Russian war effort for more than a month.
According to the intelligence update, Russia is sending in third battalions from its combat brigades, which are usually held in reserve. The third battalion is likely to help replenish troops for the longer term in Ukraine.
Sievierodonetsk in the Luhansk region has become the epicenter of the war, which has dragged on for more than 100 days. Russian forces hope to seize the city and gain a key foothold over the eastern Donbas, with the inevitable goal of establishing a land bridge over to the Crimean Peninsula.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Thursday said the fate of eastern Ukraine was being decided in the battle for Sievierodonetsk.
“This is a very fierce battle, very difficult. Probably one of the most difficult throughout this war,” Zelensky said in an address.
Ukraine has managed to inflict heavy losses on Russian forces with the backing of the western security alliance NATO. Ukrainian fighters pushed Russia out of the capitol region of Kyiv and last week launched an effective counterattack, taking back territory in the southern part of the country around the Kherson province.
Still, fighting around Sievierodonetsk continues amid steep losses and casualties for both sides. Russia last week began using more troops for ground operations from the independent and Russian-backed separatist force Luhansk People’s Republic to blunt the impact on its army.
Leonid Pasechnik, who heads the Luhansk People’s Republic, told The Associated Press the city is contested but they had managed to hole up most Ukrainian troops in the industrial part of the city, including inside a chemical plant.
Pasechnik said Ukrainian fighters should “make a decision” to surrender because Russia would eventually emerge victorious in the city.
“We will achieve our goal in any case. We will liberate the industrial area in any case. We will liberate Sievierodonetsk in any case,” he told the AP.