Ukraine’s military confirms withdrawal from key eastern city of Siversk

Ukrainian troops have fully withdrawn from Siversk, a key stronghold in the country’s eastern Donetsk region, Ukraine’s General Staff confirmed on Tuesday, nearly two weeks after Russia claimed to have captured the town.

Control of Siversk would allow Russian forces to advance to move closer than ever to the remaining cities in the Donetsk region’s so-called “fortress belt” still under Ukrainian control, Sloviansk and Kramatorsk.

While “heavy fighting” continues around Siversk, Ukrainian soldiers withdrew in order “to preserve the lives of our soldiers and the combat capability of units,” Ukraine’s General Staff said, adding that Russia was able to advance due to a “significant numerical advantage and constant pressure by small assault groups in difficult weather conditions.

Ukraine’s “fortress belt”, composed primarily of Kostyantynivka, Kramatorsk, Slovyansk, and several smaller settlements and towns, has been Ukraine’s primary defensive line in the Donetsk region since 2014. 

Since then, the Ukrainian government has spent over a decade pouring extensive resources into reinforcing the territory and its defensive infrastructure, according to the US-based Institute for the Study of War.

Russia’s Defence Ministry did not comment on Ukraine’s confirmed withdrawal on Tuesday.  

On 11 December, Valery Gerasimov, Russia’s Chief of the General Staff, said that Russia had captured Siversk — a claim that Kyiv denied at the time, accusing Moscow of exaggerating territorial gains amid peace negotiations with Washington. 

Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky has been under growing pressure from Washington in recent weeks, as earlier peace proposals put forward by US negotiators reportedly required Kyiv to cede the remaining 25% of Donetsk region still under its control.