Russian forces blew up a bridge connecting the Ukrainian city of Sivierodonetsk with another town on the riverbank, cutting off a possible civilian evacuation route, local officials said Sunday. Sievirodonetsk has become the focus of the battle for control of the eastern Donbass region of Ukraine. Parts of the city have been pulverized in some of the bloodiest battles since the Kremlin launched its invasion on February 24. Ukrainian and Russian forces continued to fight side by side there on Sunday, Luhansk provincial governor Sergie Gaidai said. Russian forces have taken control of most of the city, but Ukrainian troops continue to control an industrial area and a chemical plant where hundreds of civilians are taking refuge. But the Russians had destroyed a bridge over the Siverskyi Donets River that connected Sievierodonetsk with the twin city of Lysychansk, Gaidai said. This leaves only one of the three bridges standing and reduces the number of routes that could be used to evacuate civilians or to withdraw Ukrainian troops to positions on the west side of the river. In Lysychansk itself, Russian bombings killed a woman and destroyed four houses and a mall, Gaidai said. The head of the Sievierodonetsk administration said that just over a third of the city remained under the control of Ukrainian forces and about two-thirds were in Russian hands. “Our forces are holding on tight to the defensive line,” Oleksandr Stryuk told national television. After being forced to curtail its initial campaign goals following its February 24 invasion of Ukraine, Moscow has turned its attention to expanding control of Donbass, where pro-Russian separatists have held sway since 2014. Sievierodonetsk is the last city in Donetsk region of Luhansk still under Ukrainian occupation and its loss would be a major strategic blow. Victory for the Russians would bring them one step closer to one of Russian President Vladimir Putin’s stated goals in what he calls a “special military operation.” The smoke rises after a military attack on a complex of the Azot chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk, amid a Russian attack on Ukraine in the city of Lysychansk on June 10. STRINGER / Reuters Elsewhere, Russian cruise missiles destroyed a large warehouse containing US and European weapons in the Ternopil region of western Ukraine, Russia’s Interfax news agency reported. The governor of Ternopil said rockets fired from the Black Sea into the town of Chortkiv had partially destroyed a military installation and injured 22 people. A local official said there were no weapons stored there. Reuters could not independently confirm the different accounts. Moscow has repeatedly criticized the United States and other nations for supplying arms to Ukraine. Putin said earlier this month that Russia would hit new targets if the West supplied longer-range missiles to Ukraine for use in high-precision mobile missile systems. Ukrainian leaders have again called on Western countries in recent days to speed up heavy weapons deliveries as Russian artillery pounded the east of the country. In the south and southwest of Sivierodonetsk, Russian forces fired mortars and artillery around a number of settlements, according to the General Staff of Ukraine. However, he said Ukrainian forces had repulsed Russian efforts to reach out to certain communities. Reuters could not independently verify the reports on the battlefield. Ukrainian forces have proved more resilient than expected, but the US-based Institute for War Studies said that as they use their latest stockpiles of Soviet-era weapons and ammunition, they will need consistent Western support. Putin says Russia’s actions are aimed at disarming and “denationalizing” Ukraine. Kyiv and its allies call it an unprovoked offensive to seize territory. Also Sunday, the leader of the Russian-backed Donetsk Autonomous Region in Donbas said there was no reason to pardon two British nationals who were sentenced to death last week after being arrested while fighting for Ukraine. A court in the self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic on Thursday found Aiden Aslin and Shaun Pinner – and Moroccan Brahim Saadoun – guilty of “mercenary activities” seeking to overthrow democracy. Britain says Ashlyn and Piner were regular soldiers and should be excluded from the pursuit of hostilities under the Geneva Conventions. The separatists say they have committed serious crimes and have one month to appeal. “I see no reason, no conditions, to make such a decision for the sake of it,” Dennis Pushilin was quoted as saying by Russian news agencies. Ashlin’s family said he and Piner “are not and have never been mercenaries.” Our Morning and Afternoon Newsletters are compiled by Globe editors, giving you a brief overview of the day’s most important headlines. Register today.
