Luhansk governor says his troops will maintain on to Lysychansk for ‘so long as potential’ so the Ukrainian military can shore up defences within the neighbouring Donetsk area.
Russian forces have taken management of the jap Ukrainian metropolis of Severodonetsk, in Ukraine’s Luhansk area, delivering a big victory for President Vladimir Putin, 4 months after he ordered his troops into Ukraine.
The autumn of Severodonetsk on Saturday got here after the strategic metropolis – with a pre-war inhabitants of 100,000 – endured weeks of heavy bombardment. The battle culminated with a Ukrainian resolution to retreat after street-by-street combating within the metropolis’s industrial zone, the place Ukrainian fighters had held out for weeks within the Azot chemical plant along with a whole lot of civilians.
The governor of Luhansk, Serhiy Haidai, instructed Al Jazeera on Sunday that Ukrainian troops determined to withdraw from Severodonetsk as a result of “all of the defensive buildings had been shelled a lot and destroyed”.
“We might have merely misplaced many troopers,” he mentioned. “We withdrew nicely and in an organised trend and with out shedding even one fighter.”
Now the battle has moved from Severodonetsk to its twin metropolis of Lysychansk, throughout the Seversky-Donets River, the one city in Luhansk nonetheless in Ukrainian arms.
If Russia had been to take Lysychansk, it will management the entire of Luhansk, which along with the Donetsk area makes up what's collectively generally known as the Donbas.
“We are going to maintain [Lysychansk] for so long as potential,” mentioned Haidai. “If there aren’t any large losses, we'll maintain it.”
He added that the Russians had been unlikely to finish the warfare even when they captured the whole Donbas area. “Solely power can cease Putin,” he mentioned.
Al Jazeera spoke with Haidai in regards to the battle for Severodonetsk and the scenario in Lysychansk. The dialog beneath has been edited frivolously for size and readability.
Al Jazeera: The scenario in Severodonetsk and Lysychansk stays tense. Are you able to inform us what has occurred there over the past day?
Serhiy Haidai: There are very severe assaults from the Russian military in town of Lysychansk. The assaults are coming from completely different sides. The city is stretched out geographically, with rises, slopes, descents; there's an [industrial zone], there are high-rise buildings – this isn't Severodonetsk which is a neat sq. of 4 kilo meters by 4 kilometers (2.5 miles by 2.5 miles).
There’s an enormous quantity of weapons dropped onto individuals. Simply right now, in someday, the city has been shelled greater than 150 instances. It's only a disaster. Proper now in Lysychansk, the Russian military is attempting to interrupt by way of the road of defence or to chop it off at Seversky [Seversky-Donets River] to encircle Lysychansk.
Al Jazeera: What about Severodonetsk? When was it taken?
Haidai: A call was made to pull out our troops as a result of, over a number of months, all of the defensive buildings had been shelled a lot and destroyed that there was no level in holding on in a single place. We might have merely misplaced many troopers. So we withdrew, we withdrew nicely and in an organised trend and with out shedding even one fighter.
Al Jazeera: How many individuals are left in Severodonetsk and are you anxious about them?
Haidai: Greater than 10,000.
The city isn’t being shelled now as a result of it was the Russian military doing the shelling. Our forces don’t shell locals. Why would we shell our personal individuals? So I’m not anxious within the sense that individuals are topic to hazard. However the quantity of shelling was large so it’s probably that some mines that haven’t exploded are nonetheless there and that might be a giant downside.
Al Jazeera: However they're in Russian arms. Are you anxious about that?
Haidai: After all, I’m anxious about each one that has been left surrounded and beneath occupation, however for 3 months we had been asking them to evacuate. I actually was doing this from each platform that was potential, and we did evacuate many individuals.
Those left are largely those that wished to remain.
Al Jazeera: Why do you suppose they didn’t need to depart?
Haidai: Some simply didn’t need to lose all the pieces that they had, their residence or home, and a few as a result of there was nowhere to go and so they had been afraid – largely aged individuals who mentioned: “We had been born right here, we'll die right here.” And there was some proportion who had been ready for the Russians.
Al Jazeera: Is it arduous to consider that some individuals need the Russians there?
Haidai: These are precisely the individuals who don't have any motivation, who haven’t seen a lot on this life. They weren’t incomes even the typical wage so they may go to Europe and see the world. They don't seem to be motivated to develop – they're content material with the idea of the Soviet Union and the legacy of it in Russia.
Al Jazeera: Many say the battle in Severodonetsk was just like Mariupol – that troopers sheltering within the Azot plant was like Azovstal. However you’ve mentioned that it’s not the identical. Why?
Haidai: The dimensions is completely different. Mariupol is a large metropolis, Azovstal is a large industrial advanced and there's a entire underground city-bomb shelter. There is no such thing as a such factor at Azot. There are a number of separate locations of shelter.
Secondly, Mariupol was surrounded however Severodonetsk wasn’t, so there was all the time a method for us to get merchandise and provides there.
Al Jazeera: Have all of the troops that had been in Severodonetsk now been moved to Lysychansk?
Haidai: Sure
Al Jazeera: And also you suppose you'll maintain Lysychansk?
Haidai: We are going to maintain it for so long as potential. If there aren’t any large losses, we'll maintain it. Whereas we had been holding the Russian military again in Luhansk, the Donetsk Oblast was digging in very nicely and was constructing robust defences.
Al Jazeera: The Russian military has extra weapons, manpower. Why do you suppose it took them so lengthy to seize Severodonetsk?
Haidai: As a result of they don’t know struggle. When was the final time they fought towards a powerful opponent? Let’s keep in mind. Even in Chechnya, they misplaced the primary marketing campaign. They simply destroy all the pieces and that’s it. That’s their tactic.
Al Jazeera: You mentioned a number of days in the past that some forces had been being withdrawn from Lysychansk as nicely. Do you suppose Russia can take all of Luhansk?
Haidai: It could possibly. Sadly, it may.
Al Jazeera: In the event that they take all of Luhansk, and all the Donbas. Do you suppose it would cease the warfare?
Haidai: I don’t suppose so. Solely power can cease Putin.
Al Jazeera: And you'll attempt to get the territory again?
Haidai: Sure, undoubtedly.
Al Jazeera: You see a lot tragedy, so many individuals dying day by day. How do you cope?
Haidai: Nicely there are lots of people wanting as much as me. So in the intervening time, I can’t present my feelings. They're there, however they're very very deeply buried.
Al Jazeera: That is your house, these are your cities. Once you see the destruction, how does it make you are feeling?
Haidai: Look, in two and half years, we have now restored so much within the Luhansk area, greater than within the ten years earlier than. So seeing all that is painful however I do know we'll restore all of it once more.
Al Jazeera: Had been there any casualties in Lysychansk right now?
Haidai: Sure, however we are able to’t even depend what number of as a result of there's a large quantity of shelling.
Al Jazeera: Why do you suppose Russia is doing this?
Haidai: The nation is the richest, with large sources however they don’t actually have a regular, first rate automobile of their very own. To allow them to’t make something. And the one method they'll justify that is to point out that the entire world is towards them, everyone seems to be aggressive in the direction of them and they also have to search out some type of enemy.
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