Advancing Russian forces reach key highway out of Donbas cities

KYIV/SVITLODARSK, Ukraine, May 26 (Reuters) – Advancing Russian forces came closer to surrounding Ukrainian troops in the east, briefly seizing positions on the last highway out of a crucial pair of Ukrainian-held cities before being beaten back, a Ukrainian official said on Thursday.

Russia has poured thousands of troops into its assault in the eastern Donbas region, attacking from three sides in an attempt to encircle Ukrainian forces in Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk. The cities’ fall would bring nearly the whole of Luhansk province under Russian control, a key Kremlin war aim.

Serhiy Gaidai, governor of Luhansk province, acknowledged that Ukrainian forces were retreating, but said the last road out of Lysychansk and Sievierodonetsk, which straddle the Siversky Donets river, remained outside Russian control.

In an interview posted on social media, Gaidai said “around 50” Russian soldiers had reached the highway linking Lysychansk to Ukrainian-held Bakhmut, and “managed to gain a foothold for some time. They even set up some kind of checkpoint there”.

“The checkpoint was broken, they were thrown back. That is to say, the Russian army does not control the route now, but they are shelling it,” he added.

“From the first day, the entire territory, all the positions of the military, have been shelled. Many of our fortified structures were destroyed,” Gaidai said. “It is clear that our boys are slowly retreating to more fortified positions – we need to hold back this horde.”

He hinted at further Ukrainian withdrawals, saying it was possible troops would leave “one settlement, maybe two. We need to win the war, not the battle”.

Western military analysts see the battle for the two cities as a potential turning point in the war, now that Russia has defined its principal objective as capturing the east.

‘SOBERING’

Reuters journalists operating in Russian-held territory further south saw proof of Moscow’s advance in the town of Svitlodarsk, where Ukrainian forces withdrew earlier this week.

The town is now under firm control of pro-Russian fighters, who have occupied the local government building and hung a red flag bearing the Soviet hammer and sickle at the door.

Drone footage filmed by Reuters journalists of the nearby abandoned battlefield showed scores of craters pockmarking a green field surrounded by wrecked buildings. Pro-Russian fighters were milling about in trenches.

Russia’s recent gains in the Donbas follow the surrender of Ukraine’s garrison in Mariupol last week, and suggest a shift in momentum on the battlefield after weeks in which Ukrainian forces had advanced near Kharkiv in the northeast.

“Recent Russian gains offer a sobering check on expectations for the near term,” tweeted defence analyst Michael Kofman, director of Russian studies at the U.S.-based CNA think-tank.

Russian troops have broken through Ukrainian lines at Popasna south of Sievierodonetsk and are threatening to encircle Ukrainian forces, he wrote.

“The extent to which this…