Max Hunder, Pavel Polityuk

KYIV (Reuters – Ukrainian forces held on in Sievierodonetsk Tuesday, resisting Russia’s relentless assault to seize a bombed out wasteland. This is Moscow’s primary objective since its recent invasion.

Each side claimed that Russian forces controlled a quarter to half of the city. Russia’s separatist proxy acknowledged that it took longer to capture the city than expected, in spite of one of the largest ground attacks of war.

Western military analysts claim that Moscow has used manpower, firepower, and resources from the other front to focus on Sievierodonetsk. They hope that a large offensive on this small industrial town will bring Russia victory in its eastern aims.

According to Russia’s TASS, Leonid Pasechnik (leader of pro-Moscow Luhansk People’s Republic), “We can already say that a third” of Sievierodonetsk’s territory is under our control.”

Fighting was going on in the capital, but Russian forces didn’t advance as quickly as they had hoped. He claimed that pro-Moscow troops wanted to “maintain city infrastructure”, and were therefore moving slower because of concerns about chemical factories.

Oleksandr Strayuk, the Ukrainian chief of the city administration said that the Russians controlled the other half of the city.

“Unfortunately… The city has been divided in half. However, the city is still able to defend itself. “It is Ukrainian,” he stated, telling those who are still inside to remain in the cellars.

Ukraine claims Russia destroyed the entire city’s infrastructure by bombarding it relentlessly. Then, Russia launched a wave after wave of ground attacks involving large numbers of casualties.

Tens of thousands remain trapped. Although Russian troops are moving slowly towards the center of the city they still have not been able stop the Ukrainian defenders that remain.

Serhiy Gaidai, regional governor, stated that there was no risk for Ukrainian forces to be trapped. However, they might be forced to cross the Siverskiy Donets River to Lysychansk (the twin city located on the other bank).

Stryuk, the chief of the city’s administration, stated that it was impossible to evacuate civilians. Following Monday’s terrorist attack in France that resulted in the death of a French journalist and forced authorities to cancel efforts to evacuate citizens,

Jan Egeland (secretary general, Norwegian Refugee Council) said that he is “horrified” at the destruction of Sievierodonetsk.

“We are concerned that as many as 12,000 civilians may remain trapped in the crossfire of the city without access to water, food or electricity. With few escape options, civilians are being forced into hiding in basements and bomb shelters by the near constant bombardment.

On Tuesday, reports were sparse about major battles elsewhere on the battlefield. According to Ukraine, Moscow has been trying to attack other parts of the main front in the east. This includes the push towards Solviansk. In the South, Ukraine claims to have defeated Russian forces along a bank the Inhulets River. This river forms part of the Russian-held Kherson provincial border.

OIL BAN

Moscow’s armed forces have concentrated their full might on Sievierodonetsk after failing to take Kyiv and driving out northern Ukraine. There has been little progress made in the east since then.

Moscow could win in Luhansk and Lysychansk to take control of the province. This is one of the two eastern regions Moscow claims for its separatist proxy, partially achieving President Vladimir Putin’s war goals.

However, the enormous battle came at a huge cost. Some Western military experts believe that Russia could be hampered by counterattacks from Ukraine, regardless who wins the Battle for Sievierodonetsk.

“Putin now throws men and weapons at (Luhansk) Sievierodonetsk’s last major population center, as though taking it would win war against the Kremlin. “He is wrong,” the Institute for the Study of War, a Washington think tank, wrote last week.

“When Severodonetsk’s Battle ends, regardless of who holds it, the Russian offensive will probably have culminated at both the strategic and operational levels. Ukraine has the opportunity to resume its operations-level counteroffensives in order to push back the Russians.”

Monday’s EU sanctions on Russia were the toughest since the start of the conflict. They targeted for the first times Russian oil sales, which are Moscow’s largest source of income.

EU officials will ban the import of Russian oil via sea. Officials claimed that the EU would immediately stop oil from Russia being exported to Europe in its entirety. This will be followed by 90% at the end of 2015 by Germany and Poland.

Hungary relies heavily on Russian oil from a massive Soviet-era pipeline. EU officials granted an exemption for Hungary. But, they said that this was only temporary.

Ukraine believes the sanctions are being too slow and too complicated to block Russia. Ihor Zelenskiy, deputy head at President Volodymyr Zelenskiy’s Office, stated that Ukraine’s sanction are “too slow”, too late, and not sufficient.

Moscow has cut off gas supply to many EU countries as part of a dispute about how payments should be made. However, the move, which was taken during warmer months, when the demand for gas is low, did not have the greatest impact. Russia shut down GasTerra on Tuesday as the Dutch main gas buyer. It said that it will find other supplies.

In February, Putin invaded Ukraine, claiming that Moscow wanted to “denazify” and disarm its neighbor. This is a pretext to declare war on its territory, according to the Western Allies and Ukraine.