KIEV, June 28. /TASS/. It makes no sense for the Ukrainian army to try to retain control of Severodonetsk, the Ukrainian special operations force’s former commander, Sergey Krivonos, has said.
"The way I see it, we are witnesses to a repetition of the previous authorities’ mistake, when Pyotr Poroshenko tried to retain control of Donetsk Airport. It was of no use in tactical or operative terms. My opinion of a career officer is the attempt to retain Severodonetsk is senseless," Major-General Krivonos said in an interview to RBC-Ukraine, published on Tuesday.
Krivonos claims that after leaving the territory of Donetsk Airport and until 2022 the Ukrainian forces completely controlled all approaches to the air hub, thus preventing it from being restored to operation.
"It's the same here. If we stayed on the commanding heights in Lisichansk, we would have full control over entire Severodonetsk and be able to save our resources," Krivonos said.
In 2014, Ukrainian troops held the terminals of Donetsk Airport for several months, from where they shelled the city outskirts. In mid-January, the DPR announced that they had taken control of the airport. Later, Kiev made several unsuccessful attempts to seize the facility. The DPR’s Defense Ministry later said that the Ukrainian army’s total losses in the airport’s area amounted to about 600.
Since the beginning of March 2022, the Lugansk People’s Republic’s militia with support from the Russian army has been conducting an offensive towards Severodonetsk and Lisichansk. Putting the cities under control is one of the priority aims. The liberation of the cities has turned out to be a hard task, because the Ukrainian troops have organized defense in depth there and been using civilians as a human shield. Several large chemical enterprises are located in the area.