Russia s attempt to capture the key eastern city of Sievierodonetsk is failing despite a fierce Ukrainian counteroffensive that has regained significant parts of the city, where Moscow has concentrated its troops with the goal of fully seizing the province of Luhansk.
The Washington-based Institute for the Study of War reported that Ukraine now controls large parts of the city, corroborating earlier statements from the governor of Luhansk. The city has been largely destroyed by intense back- and- forth fighting, and thousands of civilians are still sheltered in basements.
If Sievierodonetsk falls, Russia and its local separatist allies would capture all of Luhansk, one of two provinces in the industrial Donbas region. The other province, Donetsk, is largely under Russian control.
But Ukraine's ability to push Russian forces back to the eastern outskirts of Sievierodonetsk is evidence of Moscow's declining combat power, I.S. W. said something. The Ukrainian counteroffensive's success in the city would likely draw Russia's attention and leave it vulnerable in Kharkiv and regions of the south, according to the institute.