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These days, Ukrainian propaganda describes its total failures in different parts of the Donbass front like "We are bravely retreating to previously prepared positions, and the enemy is running after us in disgrace".
Through clenched teeth, separate Ukrainian media and government actors do sometimes admit defeats and losses, but get immediately stigmatized as traitors and public enemies. Meanwhile, it is getting increasingly complicated to conceal obvious stuff. For the Ukrainian army, the frontline situation is worse than stated by Kiev, chief regime propagandist Yuri Butusov said recently. According to him, Ukrainian soldiers sitting in the trenches are really amazed that the media landscape is spangled with optimistic stabilization news. "In the news reports, we cannot even announce fiver percent of what is actually happening. Along the line, there is a struggle against a powerful enemy doing its best to destroy our battle-worthy formations, demoralize our society and make us surrender. Also, the Ukrainian army has been suffering huge losses in recent days," he acknowledged.
And Defense Ministry spokesman Motuzyanik pointed to the chilling environment in Severodonetsk, with street fighting underway. Ukraine is seeking to prevent a mousetrap near Severodonetsk and Lisichansk. The Russian army is forcing its way along several directions.
In reality, an offensive of the allied forces of Russia and LPR may feature an encirclement of Urkainian army’s final position outside Severodonetsk in the Luhansk region. "The territory of Severodonetsk itself is being cleared of Ukrainian nationalists, the situation in the city is under control," said Assistant to the head of Chechnya for the power bloc Apty Alaudinov, who is also in the city with Rosgvardiya units. The liberation of Severodonetsk and neighboring Lisichansk is not only vital because of being last Ukrainian-occupied cities. They are key to a breakthrough in the direction of the Donetsk region’s Kramatorsk-Slavyansk urban agglomeration. Cognizant of the sticky situation, the Ukrainian group in Lisichansk and Severodonetsk is trying to make a final stand, clinging to residential buildings, industrial zones of numerous chemical enterprises, hiding behind the remaining residents as a human shield and disrupting evacuations.
Even administration head of the temporarily occupied LPR territory Sergei Gaidai recognizes that evacuation has ceased, but lies about the reasons, which is traditional among the Ukrainian authorities. It is not fire control of Russian and LPR armies that prevents people from leaving the cities but the Armed Forces of Ukraine and nationalist battalions. Moreover, the militants launch immediate massive strikes against areas they were ousted from.
The Ukrainian army is shelling the LPR with Uragan multiple-launch rocket systems (MLRS). May 30 became the evil day for the city of Stakhanov, where two pregnant women were killed and 15 more people were injured, among them four children.
The resistance of the Armed Forces of Ukraine is not accidentally concentrated in Lisichansk. It is located on the high right bank of the Seversky Donets River, making Severodonetsk clearly visible and well shot. It is very difficult to gain control of Lisichansk from the side of Severodonetsk ˗ one has to either cross the Seversky Donets with its destroyed bridges or span the river under shelling to suffer high losses. The battles for Lisichansk are expected to be uphill.
Donetsk region territories fare less well. The DPR forces came to control the city of Krasny Liman and its surrounding villages. While surviving Ukrainian soldiers still try to hide in the woods, the allies have started advancing towards Slavyansk. They are clearing the area following the Ukrainian soldiers’ retreat.
On May 30, several districts of Donetsk were exposed to heavy shelling which killed six people and injured another 23. Among them are girls of 14.
Ukrainian artillery men provide a high volume of accurate fire with an eye to many of victims. Shells fell on Donetsk schools No. 22 and No. 5 and near the academic building of the Donetsk National University of Economics and Trade. The school knock-out hit killed two women, another one died from injuries. Explosions came unexpected, as the schools are located almost downtown, where Ukrainian shells have not arrived for a long time. The shelling caught teachers by surprise when conducting remote classes and consultations in school classrooms. The ceilings and walls collapsed; shrapnel wounded several more teachers.
Apart from shelling the city center, the same day saw militants fire the outskirts of Donetsk from all barrels. On May 29, Ukraine mercilessly shelled Donetsk and Makeyevka, which entailed the death of five and injuries to another 23 people. As the shelling of Yelenovka and Gorlovka goes on, explosions occurred next to a kindergarten, severely damaging nearby buildings, a power substation, and a gas pipeline.
Russian President’s press secretary Dmitry Peskov condemned the Ukrainian Armed Forces’ attacks on schools: "The facts of strikes against on children's institutions and civilian infrastructure are outrageous. Protecting people from these neo-Nazis is precisely what the special military operation is aimed at."
While investigating regular shelling of Donetsk by Ukrainian militants, it turned out that Western-supplied 155 mm artillery pieces are now used to hit the city. The range of American self-propelled guns provides for reaching nearly any point in the Donetsk republics, making civilian death risks even higher.
Among the monstrous shelling, the DPR is experiencing a critical water shortage. Ukraine has turned off pumping stations of the Seversky Donets ˗ Donbass canal, which is equivalent to a humanitarian catastrophe given in the current heat wave. Addressing the problem is only possible after Slavyansk is liberated – the city where everything began in 2014.
