Vladimir Putin’s forces have stalled in a key advance in the Donbas region of Ukraine, British defence chiefs said on Tuesday.
Russian troops had been making limited progress in May, of between 500m to a kilometre a day on average, as they sought to seize territory in the Popasna area of Luhansk, which with the Donetsk province makes up the Donbas region.
However, in its latest intelligence update, the Ministry of Defence in London said: “Russia made gains on the southern, Popasna axis through May but its progress in the area has stalled over the last week. Reports of heavy shelling near Izium suggests Russia is preparing to make a renewed effort on the northern axis.”
The defence chiefs also confirmed that Ukrainian forces had seized back territory in the city of Severodonetsk in Luhansk where Mr Putin’s generals have been focusing their military campaign.
“Over the weekend, Ukrainian forces have recaptured parts of Severodonetsk although Russian forces likely continue to occupy eastern districts. Russia’s broader plan likely continues to be to cut off the Sieverodonetsk area from both the north and the south,” said the MoD.
“Russia will almost certainly need to achieve a breakthrough on at least one of these axes to translate tactical gains to operational level success and progress towards its political objective of controlling all of Donetsk Oblast (province).”
Ukrainian troops were engaged in fierce street fighting with Russian soldiers in the industrial city of Severodonetsk, President Volodymyr Zelensky said, in what is an intense battle in the Kremlin’s attempt to control the eastern Donbas region.
Mr Zelensky stressed: “They outnumber us, they are more powerful.”
But Ukraine’s forces have “every chance” of fighting back, he added.
However, some reports suggested Ukrainian forces had suffered a significant setback in their counter-attack in Severodonetsk and had been pushed back into western districts, with Russian troops gaining more ground.
In its nightly update, the Ukrainian military said two civilians were killed in Russian shelling in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions on Monday and that Russian forces had fired at more than 20 communities, claims which could not be confirmed independently.
But as Mr Putin’s military chiefs unleash huge bombardments, troop numbers and equipment at seizing Severodonetsk and other parts of the Donbas, they have left more lightly occupied areas of southern Ukraine vulnerable to counter-attacks.
Ivan Fedorov, Mayor of Melitopol which had been occupied by Russian forces, said that they had left “almost all” military checkpoints around the city, according to the Kyiv Independent, after Ukrainian troops launched counter-attacks in the Zaporizhzhia province.
But Ukraine’s defence ministry said on Monday that Russian forces were advancing towards Sloviansk, which lies about 85 km (53 miles) to the west of Severodonetsk.
“The front line is under constant shelling,” Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko told Ukrainian television.
“The enemy is also shelling near Lyman with the aim of wrecking our defensive positions and advancing on Sloviansk and Kramatorsk. There is also shelling of Svyatohirsk with the same aim.”
Mr Kyrylenko said efforts were underway to evacuate people from several towns, some under day and night attack, including Sloviansk which has about 24,000 residents still there.
“People are now understanding, though it is late, that it is time to leave,” he said.
In a move coordinated with the United States, Britain has said it would supply Ukraine with multiple-launch rocket systems that can strike targets up to 80 km (50 miles) away, providing the more precise, long-range firepower needed to reach Russian artillery batteries, a key component of Moscow’s battle plans.
Mr Zelensky said Kyiv was gradually receiving “specific anti-ship systems”, and that these would be the best way to end a Russian blockade of Ukrainian Black Sea ports preventing grain exports.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow would respond to Western deliveries of long-range weapons by pushing Ukrainian forces further back from Russia’s border.
On Sunday, President Vladimir Putin said Russia would strike new targets if the West supplied longer-range missiles. The same day, Russian missiles hit Kyiv for the first time in more than a month.
The United States, which reopened its embassy in Kyiv in May after an almost three-month closure, said its embassy posture in the Ukrainian capital remains unchanged.
Western countries have imposed sanctions of unprecedented sweep and severity on Russia over its invasion.
On Monday, Russia’s foreign ministry said it had slapped personal sanctions on 61 US officials including the treasury and energy secretaries and leading defence and media executives. The move, it said, was in retaliation for “constantly expanding US sanctions”.
