A satellite tv for pc picture exhibits the broken Pavlograd Bridge in western Severodonetsk, Ukraine, on June 11. (Maxar Applied sciences/Reuters)
All three bridges connecting the embattled metropolis of Severodonetsk with its twin metropolis Lysychansk to the west, at the moment are impassable for automobiles, severely limiting evacuation choices for these making an attempt to flee town and provide routes in, in response to Serhiy Hayday, head of the Luhansk area army administration.
“The bridges made it attainable to hold at the least some humanitarian cargo, one thing associated to reserves. It’s at the moment not possible to make use of the bridges,” Hayday mentioned.
A second of three bridges was destroyed over the weekend. Hayday’s workplace defined that the third bridge, which has come underneath sustained shelling, is now impassable for automobiles.
The destruction of the bridges offers the Russian army one other benefit since provide strains are interrupted, Hayday mentioned. Getting in weapons and reserves is now “tough, however not not possible,” he mentioned.
Hayday mentioned journey between Severodonetsk and Lysychansk was nonetheless attainable, however didn’t go into element for safety causes.
“Lysychansk is already being shelled very powerfully, with a heavy caliber [weapons], they’re destroying the whole lot: each humanitarian headquarters and hospitals. However from Lysychansk there may be nonetheless a possibility to evacuate individuals and choose up humanitarian items day by day,” he mentioned.
Hayday additionally mentioned of Severodonetsk that Russian forces “actually management a lot of the metropolis,” estimating about 70% to 80%.
However he denied claims by the self-declared Luhansk Individuals Republic (LPR) that Severodonetsk has fallen, saying “this isn’t true.”
“A part of town remains to be managed by Ukrainian defenders. If that they had full management of town, Russian troopers wouldn’t have died there,” Hayday mentioned.
Hayday additionally mentioned that even when Ukrainian forces gained again town, it will be not possible to “restore the infrastructure utterly earlier than the winter. The one attainable factor is to place radiators that can preserve the temperature heat within the tents. And sure, the whole lot is damaged. With water, with electrical energy — there shall be enormous issues with the whole lot.”