hello, and welcome to bbc news. it s 100 days since russia began its invasion of ukraine. president zelensky marked the occasion by praising the country s resistance. but he s admitted russia now controls one fifth of his country, that nearly 1a million people have been forced to flee and that thousands of civilians have been killed. 0n the ground, vladimir putin s focus is now on the donbas region in the east, where his forces continue to make gains. but the governor of the luhansk region says ukrainian troops have recaptured parts of severodonetsk. if confirmed, it would mean russian forces control only half the city. 0ur international correspondent, 0rla guerin, has been with ukrainian troops near bakhmut one of the next town s in russia s path. a dirt track that leads to a grinding war. we re in donbas, the key battleground. the russians are two miles down the road. this area, around bakhmut, is still in ukrainian hands, for now. but the enemy is approaching from two si
of tactics they are? absolutely, what is happening out there in the area of severodonetsk, the ukrainians are in danger of being enveloped in a pocket, severodonetsk is on the east of the pocket. severodonetsk is on the east of the pocket- the pocket. there is one road leadin: the pocket. there is one road leading from the pocket. there is one road leading from that the pocket. there is one road leading from that city - the pocket. there is one road leading from that city out, i the pocket. there is one road l leading from that city out, and if that road is covered, if the russians are able to take that road, you ll have thousands, up to 10,000 ukrainian troops that are operating in that area, and they are in danger are operating in that area, and they are in dange they are in danger indistinct ou they are in danger indistinct you would they are in danger indistinct you would have they are in danger indistinct you would have some - they are in danger indistinct i you would ha
i ve told our colleagues many times let them clear the mines so the ships loaded with wheat can leave these ports. we will guarantee their safe passage with no problems. we can now speak to bill roggio who s an expert in military strategy and a senior fellow at the foundation for defense of democracies. thank you forjoining us, criticism early on operation tactics, is the sense that they have learned from those early mistakes? mistakes? absolutely, indistinct mistakes? absolutely, indistinct in - mistakes? absolutely, indistinct in kyiv, - mistakes? absolutely, - indistinct in kyiv, hitting areas with indistinct in kyiv, hitting areas with heavy - indistinct in kyiv, hitting areas with heavy artillery l indistinct in kyiv, hitting i areas with heavy artillery fire and then moving forward. that is what they re doing now the donbas region, and they are doing it to some effect. a lot of focus now on severodonetsk, is that the idea that we may see something similar to mariupol, in