HOT: Ukrainian soldiers withdrew from the strategic city in Donbass because of the heavy defeat against Russia

According to the New York Post, the governor of the Luhansk region, Serhiy Haidai, said that the Ukrainian forces had withdrawn after suffering heavy losses in the city of Severodonetsk, now Russian troops control about 80% of the area.

“This is not a betrayal,” Haidai wrote on Telegram, explaining the decision to withdraw Ukrainian forces from Severodonetsk.

The Ukrainian governor said the withdrawal of Ukrainian forces to Severodonetsk’s twin city of Lysychansk was part of their strategy to move to “more profitable and prepared defensive positions”. while waiting for Western weapons to be distributed to the battlefield.

Haidai said that as of Wednesday, June 1, more than 70% of the territory of the city of Severodonetsk was under Russian control, while about 10-15% was in the fighting “gray zone”, and the rest was due to Ukrainian defenders hold.

However, Ukrainian military spokesman Oleksandr Motuzyanyk declined to comment on how much the city has fallen to Moscow.

“I don’t want to judge or give any percentage of what we control or don’t control. We know the enemy’s goal and are doing everything to prevent them from achieving it,” Motuzyanyk said.

Severodonetsk, about 90km from the Russian border and once home to more than 100,000 people, has been largely evacuated.

Severodonetsk mayor Oleksandr Stryuk said the fighting still endangers the roughly 13,000 people still trapped in the city.

“The situation is very serious and the city is basically being destroyed,” Stryuk said.

If Russia captures Severodonetsk and its sister city, it will take control of the entire Luhansk region, one of two provinces in the strategic Donbass region.

On Wednesday, the US announced it would send Ukraine four more medium-range munitions and missile systems to refuel Kiev. The missile systems are part of a new $700 million US arms package for Kiev.