According to him, Sievjerodonetsk has a great symbolic value.
– It is a relatively large city. Should the Ukrainian side lose it, it is a defeat and it affects the Ukrainian will to resist.
Waves back and forth
Jörgen Elfving’s impression is that the Russians limited their attack movements with more local attacks. At the same time, he experiences that the battles wave back and forth.
– But most of Luhansk is occupied – or liberated depending on how you see it – and it is only a matter of time, as I see it, before you occupy the rest of that area, says Jörgen Elfving.
Luhansk is part of the Donbas region, which also includes the Donetsk region, which is important to Russia. In the area there is also the railway junction Lyman, which Russia claimed to have full control over on Saturday. Something that Ukraine has not confirmed.
See how the Russian forces could cut off the Ukrainian ones in the clip.