Russia-Ukraine conflict: Ukrainian troops make gains in Severodonetsk

Much of the heavy fighting in Russia’s war with Ukraine is in the eastern and southern territories as Moscow seeks to gain control of Severodonetsk. However, Kyiv said Ukrainian troops are making gains in the key city as Russia looks to bombard more regions in an effort to gain complete control.

Reuters reports that Ukrainian forces said Thursday that it has managed to make advances in the Severodonetsk area as they move forward in street fights. However, they also said their only hope of making even more gains in the territory is through more artillery.

Ukraine’s Svoboda National Guard Battalion commander Petro Kusyk said Ukrainian forces were drawing Russians into the streets to neutralize Moscow’s artillery advantage. Kusyk also said Ukrainian forces were also suffering from the lack of counter-battery artillery to fire back at Russia’s arms.

“Yesterday was successful for us – we launched a counteroffensive and in some areas, we managed to push them back one or two blocks. In others they pushed us back, but just by a building or two,” said Kusyk. “Yesterday, the occupiers suffered serious losses – if every day were like yesterday, this would all be over soon.”

“Even without these systems, we are holding on fine,” said Kusyk, referring to the artillery. “There is an order to hold our positions and we are holding them. It is unbelievable what the surgeons are doing without the proper equipment to save soldiers’ lives.”

Severodonetsk Mayor Oleksandr Stryuk said Thursday that around 10,000 civilians were still inside the bombarded city, which was around one-tenth of its population before the war.

Meanwhile, two British nationals and a Moroccan national were sentenced to death at the Russian-separatist-held People’s Republic of Donetsk, according to Russian news outlets.

British nationals Shaun Piner and Aiden Aislin and Moroccan national Brahim Saadoun pleaded guilty to “mercenary activities and committing actions aimed at seizing power and overthrowing the constitutional order of the DPR,” according to a court official in a report by Interfax.

The three men were captured while fighting for Ukraine. Their lawyer said they would appeal the decision. The UK blasted the court’s ruling as a “sham judgment.”