Ukraine’s military forces have been ordered to withdraw from Severodonetsk which has been the target of intense Russian shelling for several weeks and more recently has seen fierce street battles, with Ukrainian forces gradually pushed back to the city’s industrial zones.
A Ukrainian retreat would be significant because it would leave all of Luhansk under Russian control, except for the city of Lysychansk.
Luhansk, a mainly Russian-speaking region in east Ukraine alongside with the Donetsk region collectively known as the Donbas, have been the focus of a Russian-backed separatist movement since 2014.
