Russia tries to conquer Sievierodonetsk in eastern Ukraine. Is it the next Mariupol?
- Zelensky accuses Russia of damaging 90 per cent of buildings in Sievierodonetsk
- ‘Liberation’ of the Donbas is an ‘unconditional priority’ for Russia: Sergey Lavrov
Russian troops entered the outskirts of the Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk, a regional governor said on Monday, describing the fighting as “very fierce” in a city that become a key objective for Moscow’s offensive in the Donbas.
“The Russians are advancing into the middle of Severodonetsk. The fighting continues. The situation is very difficult,” the Lugansk regional governor Sergiy Gaiday said in a statement on social media.
Incessant shelling has left Ukrainian forces defending ruins in Sievierodonetsk, but their refusal to withdraw has slowed a massive Russian offensive across the Donbas region in eastern Ukraine.
Having failed to take the capital Kyiv in the early phase of the war, Russia is seeking to consolidate its grip on Donetsk and Luhansk, the two provinces that make up the Donbas - large parts of which are already controlled by Moscow-backed separatists.
“Some 90 per cent of buildings are damaged. More than two-thirds of the city’s housing stock has been completely destroyed. There is no telecommunication,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in a televised speech Sunday.
“Capturing Sievierodonetsk is a fundamental task for the occupiers … We do all we can to hold this advance.”