Ukrainian forces have been ordered to withdraw from Severodonetsk in the east of the country, where fierce battles are being fought with the Russian army, the regional governor announced today.“The Ukrainian armed forces will have to withdraw from Severodonetsk. They received such an order,” Serhiy Gaidai, the governor of Luhansk, a region in which this strategically important city is located, said by telegram.
Severodonetsk, in eastern Ukraine, has been the scene of armed conflicts between the Ukrainian army and Russian forces and their allies, pro-Russian separatists, for several weeks.
“It no longer makes sense to stay in positions that have been constantly shelled for months,” Gajdaj added.
He said that “all the basic infrastructure was destroyed, that 90 percent of the city was damaged and that 80 percent of the buildings must be demolished.”