The Ukrainian military said its troops had withdrawn from the battle-scarred town of Siversk in eastern Donetsk region after heavy fighting with Russian forces.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces said in a telegraphed statement on Tuesday that the Russian military had a “significant advantage” in manpower and equipment and had constantly put pressure on the defending Ukrainian forces by launching small-unit attacks in difficult weather conditions.
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The decision to withdraw Ukrainian troops was made “to protect the lives of our soldiers and the combat capabilities of our units,” the General Staff said.
Heavy losses were inflicted on Russian forces before the order to retreat was given, and Siversk remained “under fire control of our forces” and “enemy forces are held back to prevent further advances,” the General Staff added.
Ukraine’s deep state military monitoring site reported late Tuesday that Russian forces had captured the village of Hrabovske in Ukraine’s Sumy region, near the border with Siversk and Russia.
Russian Lieutenant General Sergei Medvedev told Russian President Vladimir Putin on December 11 that troops had taken control of Siversk, where fighting has raged in recent months, but Ukrainian authorities denied Russian reports at the time.
The Ukrainian military said at the time that Russian troops had launched attacks “taking advantage of unfavorable weather conditions” but that most were “destroyed on approach.”
The Kiev Independent news site reported that although Siversk is not very large, with a pre-war population of 10,000 people and only a few hundred civilians left today, it was a key to the defense of northern Donetsk.
The Kiev Independent reported that the town helped protect the wider area of Slovyask and Kramatorsk, “the main strongholds of Ukraine’s so-called ‘fortified zone’,” but Russia has been unable to gain control of the area since the fighting began.
Donetsk is one of three regions in Ukraine at the center of Russia’s territorial claims and is an obstacle to reaching a ceasefire agreement. Ukrainian leaders have said they will not recognize the territory taken in Moscow’s invasion.
As of early December, Russian forces had already occupied an estimated 19% of Ukraine’s territory, including Crimea, which Russia annexed in 2014, the entire Luhansk region and more than 80% of Donetsk, according to Reuters.
According to Reuters, Russian forces also control about 75% of the Kherson and Zaporizhia regions, as well as parts of the Kharkov, Sumy, Mykolaiv and Dnipropetrovsk regions.
The 28-point peace proposal first submitted by the administration of President Donald Trump last month states that a negotiated settlement would result in Crimea, Luhansk, and Donetsk being “recognized as de facto Russia, including by the United States.”
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky recently said that the United States is asking Ukraine to withdraw its troops from the Donetsk region in order to establish a “free economic zone” in the region, which Russia calls a “demilitarized zone.”
Pope grieves as fighting continues over Christmas
The latest stumble on the Kiev battlefield came as President Zelenskyy said on Tuesday that Russian forces launched a new “massive offensive” against Ukraine on Monday night, killing at least three people, including a 4-year-old girl, in 13 areas targeted by drones and missiles.
In Russia, Ukrainian drone strikes have killed four people in the Belgorod region over the past two days, local officials said.
Pope Leo on Tuesday expressed disappointment at Russia’s apparent refusal to agree to a ceasefire on December 25, the day many Christians celebrate Christmas.
“I once again appeal to people of good will to at least respect Christmas Day as a day of peace,” Leo told reporters outside his residence in Castel Gandolfo, Italy.
“Perhaps they will listen to us and we will have at least 24 hours of peace all over the world,” he said.
Most people in Ukraine and Russia are Christians, but many are Orthodox, which means they celebrate Christmas on January 7th.
Russian President Vladimir Putin announced an unexpected 30-hour unilateral ceasefire on the eve of this year’s Easter, an unusual pause in Russia’s war against Ukraine, which has now been going on for nearly three years since Russia’s full-scale invasion in February 2022.
