A firefighter tries to put out a fire burning in a garage after Russian shelling, amid the Russian attack on Ukraine, in Kharkiv, Ukraine April 18, 2022. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis/File Photo
Kyiv, April 19 – Russian forces have captured the city of Kreminna in eastern Ukraine and Ukrainian troops have withdrawn from the city, the regional governor said on Tuesday.
Kreminna, which had a population of more than 18,000 before the war with Russia, appears to be the first town confirmed to have been taken by Russian forces since they launched a new offensive in eastern Ukraine.
“Kreminna is under the control of the ‘Orcs’ (Russians). They have invaded the city,” Serhiy Gaidai, the governor of the Lugansk region, said at a briefing.
“Our defenders had to withdraw. They entrenched themselves in new positions and continue to fight against the Russian army.”
He did not say when Russian forces took control of Kreminna but said they attacked “from all sides”.
“It is impossible to calculate the number of civilian deaths. We have official statistics – about 200 dead – but in reality there are many more,” he said, without clarifying the period covered by the estimated death toll.
Russia, which launched a so-called “military special operation” on February 24, denies targeting civilians. Ukraine said on Monday that Russian forces, following their redeployment, launched a new offensive focused on eastern Ukraine.
The capture of Kreminna brings Russian forces one step closer to the much larger city of Kramatorsk, one of Russia’s potential targets in its offensive into the Donbass region of eastern Ukraine.
The capture of Donbass and the southern port city of Mariupol would help Russia establish a land connection between its controlled area of eastern Ukraine and the Crimean region, which Moscow captured and annexed in 2014.
Reporting by Pavel Polityuuk and Aleksandar Vasovic, editors of Timothy Heritage