Ukraine soldiers may have to retire from their final enclave in the Luhansk area to prevent being taken, according to a Ukrainian official, as Russian troops pursue an eastward offensive that has altered the dynamic of the three-month-old battle.

A retreat might put Russian President Vladimir Putin closer to completing his aim of conquering the whole Luhansk and Donetsk areas of eastern Ukraine.

His forces have gained ground in the two territories that make up the Donbas, while razing some towns to the ground.

Serhiy Gaidai, the governor of Luhansk, claimed Russian soldiers had penetrated Sievierodonetsk, the largest Donbas city still held by Ukraine, after days of attempting to trap Ukrainian forces there. According to Gaidai, 90 percent of the town’s structures were destroyed.

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“We will have enough strength and resources to defend ourselves. However, it is possible that in order not to be surrounded, we will have to retreat.“

Lyman, a railway hub west of Sievierodonetsk, was stated to be in the hands of Russia’s separatist proxies.

Russia had taken most of Lyman, Ukraine reported, but its soldiers were preventing a push to Sloviansk, to the southwest.

Ukraine’s land is being protected “as much as our current defence resources allow,” according to President Volodymyr Zelensky.

On Friday, the Ukrainian military said it withstood eight strikes in Donetsk and Luhansk, destroying tanks and armoured vehicles.

“If the occupiers think that Lyman and Sievierodonetsk will be theirs, they are wrong. Donbas will be Ukrainian, ” In a speech, Zelensky stated.

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While Russian forces have begun frontal attacks on built-up sections of Sievierodonetsk, analysts at the Institute for the Study of War in Washington say they will struggle to gain territory in the city itself.

“Russian forces have performed poorly in operations in built-up urban terrain throughout the war,” they added.

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