Up to 8,000 civilians remain in Sievierodonetsk, while occupiers move into residents’ houses
ROMAN PETRENKO – MONDAY, 27 JUNE 2022, 12:26
Oleksandr Striuk, head of the Sievierodonetsk City Military and Civic Administration, reported that around 7,000 to 8,000 civilians still remain in Sievierodonetsk.
Source: Striuk during a briefing in the "Ukraina" media centre, cited by "Interfax-Ukraine"
Quote: "Nearly 7-8 thousand residents remain in the city.
Some are trying to come back to the city from the controlled [by Ukraine – ed.] territories, others are trying to evacuate."
Details: According to Striuk, the Russian occupiers keep moving into vacant houses belonging to Ukrainians who had left the city.
He reports that Russians "put their soldiers and officers into the houses, in other words, they act like the city belongs to them".
Background:
- On 23 June, Serhii Haidai, head of the Luhansk Oblast Military Administration, reported that Ukrainian forces may retreat to new, more fortified positions.
- On 24 June, Haidai stated that Ukrainian forces had stopped the Russian offensive near Borivske in Luhansk Oblast and fought off the offensive on Lysychansk. Meanwhile the occupiers were able to capture Mykolaivka. Fighting in Sievierodonetsk continued.
- Later Haidai reported that the defenders of Sievierodonetsk in Luhansk Oblast have been ordered to retreat to new fortified positions.
- Yurii Butusov, a journalist, claimed that Ukrainian subdivisions had conducted an organised withdrawal from the industrial zone of Sievierodonetsk.
- The Ministry of Defence of the USA approved of the retreat of the troops from Sievierodonetsk in Luhansk Oblast.
