Russia is likely to have lost one-third of the ground combat forces it committed to its invasion of Ukraine in February, and its campaign to seize the Donbas region in the east of the country
Ukrainians climb on a destroyed Russian tank on a highway in Buzova, May 14, 2022. Photo / Ivor Prickett, The New York Times
![A man walks through the wreckage of a market destroyed by Russian bombing in the Saltivka neighbourhood of Kharkiv on May 14, 2022. Photo / Finbarr O'Reilly, The New York Times](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/FPGQ4KM6V4SEBMXGHK64PDSDWE.jpg?auth=c94ae8b5d0a0279b9753879b42906a9f8813bb83eeea2d800e802bce065d5db1&width=16&height=11&quality=70&smart=true)
In one vivid example, Ukrainian forces devastated a Russian battalion as it tried to cross a series of pontoon bridges over a river in northeast Ukraine last week, according to the British ministry.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy taunted Russia in an overnight address, saying Moscow's desire to show any sign of victory was "especially insane", although he conceded that the situation in the Donbas remained "very difficult".
The heaviest recent fighting in Ukraine has taken place in a relatively narrow corridor in the east and south. Russian forces have made limited gains in Donetsk and Luhansk, two Russian-speaking eastern regions where Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting for eight years.
![Ukrainian soldiers take a break near Kharkiv, Ukraine, on May 15, 2022. Photo / Finbarr O'Reilly, The New York Times](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/EUXMVEMNNNLENXIXIPCZNQXTX4.jpg?auth=3afbc5226ccf00977323e880b2fcb4621125f3133b59132a31e88cb9377f0288&width=16&height=11&quality=70&smart=true)
Russian forces are now seeking to capture the city of Sievierodonetsk and cut off a key highway in the region, Serhiy Haidai, head of the Luhansk regional military administration, said on Sunday in a post on the social media app Telegram. He said Russia had launched 11 artillery attacks on Sievierodonetsk in the past 24 hours and a similar number in two other communities, Hirske and Popasna, as it attempted to cut off the region and encircle the Ukrainian forces dug in there.
"There's a lot of destruction," he added.
In another discouraging sign for Russia, Ukrainian forces have improved security in the second-largest city, Kharkiv, in northeastern Ukraine, after pushing Russian troops away from there in recent days. About 2000 people are returning to the city each day, according to Oleh Synehubov, head of the regional military administration.
![Children sleep at a train station in Lviv, Ukraine, on May 15, 2022, before travelling back home to Kharkiv. Photo / Diego Ibarra Sanchez, The New York Times](https://www.nzherald.co.nz/resizer/v2/SXLQNBVCYOSOCJGD2AB7ERNFBM.jpg?auth=22a1dc04ca6f7f9b9a2fadedb59b6d9ef7c089f9a143bfb0f00ec78c3cace321&width=16&height=11&quality=70&smart=true)
This article originally appeared in The New York Times.
Written by: Matthew Mpoke Bigg
Photographs by: Finbarr O'Reilly, Ivor Prickett, Diego Ibarra Sanchez
© 2022 THE NEW YORK TIMES