Ukraine says it has recaptured a swathe of the battlefield city of Sievierodonetsk
- The Ukrainian claim could not be independently verified, and Moscow said its own forces were making gains there
- It was the first time Kyiv has claimed to have launched a big counter-attack in Sievierodonetsk after days of yielding ground there
Ukraine said on Saturday it had recaptured a swathe of the battlefield city of Sievierodonetsk, in a rare counteroffensive against Russia’s main assault force that had been steadily advancing in the east.
The Ukrainian claim could not be independently verified, and Moscow said its own forces were making gains there. But it was the first time Kyiv has claimed to have launched a big counter-attack in Sievierodonetsk after days of yielding ground there.
Russia has concentrated its forces on Sievierodonetsk in recent weeks for one of the biggest ground battles of the war, with Moscow appearing to bet its campaign on capturing one of two eastern provinces it claims on behalf of separatist proxies.
Both sides have claimed to have inflicted huge casualties in the fighting for the small industrial city, a battle that military experts say could determine which side has the momentum for a prolonged war of attrition in coming months.
Ukrainian Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov on Saturday said that while it was impossible to predict when the war would end, “my optimistic prognosis is that it is realistic to achieve this as early as this year,” the defence ministry said.
A statement on the ministry’s website said Reznikov told the GLOBSEC 2022 Bratislava Forum that “next will come Poland, the Baltic countries, Slovakia and others. That is why we must stop Russia and restrain it in the future.”
In the diplomatic sphere, Kyiv rebuked French President Emmanuel Macron for saying it was important not to “humiliate” Moscow.