"Units of the Ukrainian army, having suffered critical losses during the fighting for Severodonetsk (up to 90% in many units), are withdrawing towards Lyshchansk," a large neighboring city on the other side of the Donets River, the Russian Defense Ministry said in a statement.
The ministry did not specify how many Ukrainian soldiers were retreating towards Lyshchansk. Agence France-Presse was unable to confirm these statements from an independent source.
"The Ukrainian authorities, having realized that it is impossible to resist further and hold the Severodonetsk industrial zone, have ordered a mixed tactical team to mine the tanks containing nitrate and nitric acid at the Azot plant," the Russian military continued.
The same source clarified that this group is mainly composed of "survivors" of the 79th Airborne Brigade and members of the Ukrainian territorial defense.
According to Moscow, the Ukrainian army wants to blow up these chemical tanks to contaminate the zone and "delay" the attack by Russian troops.
Russian forces are seeking to control the entire Donbass basin, which Moscow-backed pro-Russian separatist forces have had partial control of since 2014. The city of Severodonetsk, along with neighboring Lysychansk, which are about 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the Ukrainian regional administrative capital of Kramatorsk, are considered key to achieving this.
Before the war, Severodonetsk had about 100,000 inhabitants.
Source: KYPE
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