A major city and last remaining stronghold in eastern Ukraine could soon fall to Russian forces, a senior adviser to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
Lysychansk, in the eastern province of Luhansk, could fall as Russian forces continue their assault on the city and try to complete the siege of sister city Sievierodonetsk, according to Zelenskyy adviser Oleksiy Arestovych.
The two Ukrainian cities are separated by the Siverskyi Donets River, with Sievierodonetsk to the north and Lysychansk to the south. Last month, President Zelenskyy said the two cities stood in the way of total Russian control of the region.
LYSYCHANSK, UKRAINE — JUNE 13, 2022: View of Severodonetsk, as seen from Lysychansk, Ukraine, Monday, June 13, 2022. (Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
While Russian forces have been attacking both cities in recent weeks, the capture of Sievierodonetsk gives them a new strategic advantage as those forces appeared to cross the river and enter Lysychansk from the north, the adviser said.
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“This is indeed a threat [and] I’m not ruling out any of the many outcomes here,” Arestovich said, according to Reuters. “Things will become much clearer in a day or two.”
A plume of smoke rises from an industrial area outside Lysychansk, Ukraine, Monday, June 13, 2022. (Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images) (Marcus Yam/Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
Dropping the final commitment to Ukrainian troops in the region will change the landscape of the war, the adviser warned.
“If Lysychansk is captured, strategically it will be more difficult for the Russians to continue their attack. The front lines will be flatter and there will be a frontal attack rather than flanking,” Arestovych predicted, according to the report.
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Instead, weapons and ammunition from the West could lead to Ukraine’s successful defense of the city, he said.
“The more Western weapons come to the front, the more the picture changes in favor of Ukraine,” the adviser added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky visits frontline positions of the Ukrainian army in Donbas, Ukraine on December 06, 2021. (Photo by Ukrainian Presidency / Handout / Anadolu Agency via Getty Images) (Photo by Ukrainian Presidency / Handout / Anadolu Agency via (Getty Images)
Russian separatist forces have already claimed control of the city — though they have not “liberated” it — while Ukrainian officials have disputed that claim.
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Last month, President Zelensky confirmed that Russian forces had captured 20 percent of Ukraine, including most of the Donbas region, which includes Luhansk in the east and Donetsk in the south.
“The Russian army has already destroyed almost the entire Donbas. Once one of the most powerful industrial centers in Europe has been destroyed,” Zelensky said on June 2. “The conquerors are destroying it city after city.”
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“We still don’t even know how many of our people were killed by the invaders. At least tens of thousands – tens of thousands in just under 100 days,” he added.
