Russian troops move to encircle strategic city in eastern Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine — As the conflict in Ukraine enters its fourth month, Russian troops appeared Tuesday to be on the cusp of a breakthrough in the disputed Donbas region, with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy warning of difficult weeks ahead.
Russian forces have launched a campaign to encircle Severodonetsk — the easternmost point of the Donbas still under Ukrainian control — along with its sister city, Lysychansk, just to the south.
By Tuesday morning, after days of withering artillery duels along the eastern front, Russian troops were reported to have seized portions of Lyman, a town roughly 30 miles west of Severodonetsk, and blitzed into the village of Zolote, south of Lysychansk. Those attacks and a Russian stab from north of Severodonetsk form a three-pronged offensive to take the city.
“The intensity of fire on Severodonetsk has increased by multiple times — they
