The governor of the country’s eastern region, Sergei Gaiday, said on Thursday that Western long-range weapons would allow Ukraine to defeat Russian forces and take control of the city of Severodonetsk “within two or three days”.

“Once we have our long-range artillery, we will face the Russian artillery and our special forces can clear the city in two or three days,” the regional governor said.

For several weeks, the Russian army has been trying to take control of the industrial city in the Lugansk region, which is crucial for controlling the entire Donbass mining basin.

According to the governor, Ukrainian troops recaptured the land in recent days and now control “a large part” of the city.

Ukrainians urge the West to send rocket systems with longer range.

The US government has already announced the deployment of four Himars systems (rocket launchers that allow multiple fires and are mounted on light armored vehicles with a range of 80 km).

But before sending more, General Mark Milley, the chief of staff of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, said Washington wanted to make sure that Ukrainian soldiers knew how to make the systems work properly.

The general said that the Himars are a “sophisticated” system and that it is necessary to “educate these young people, to make them know how to use the systems correctly”.

In addition to the operators, the soldiers responsible for maintenance, as well as the officers and non-commissioned officers, need to be trained.”

The UK has announced that it will send a similar missile launch system known as the MLRS mounted on heavy armor.

According to Gaiday, the situation in Severodonetsk on Thursday is “very dynamic”, with numerous ground battles and “continuous” Russian bombardment of areas still controlled by the Ukrainians.