Fierce fighting has continued in the strategic city of Sievierodonetsk in eastern Ukraine, where Russian shelling caused a fire at a chemical plant in which hundreds of civilians are believed to have taken shelter during some of the most intense bombardment of the war.
The governor of Luhansk region, Serhiy Haidai, said in an interview with local television that the Azot chemical plant remained under Ukrainian control, adding that fighting was under way on Sunday on the “outskirts of the city, in the streets directly near the plant”.
Russian troops had also blown up a bridge over the Siverskyi Donets River that was a possible evacuation route from Sievierodonetsk to Lysychansk, where artillery fire on Sunday killed one woman and destroyed four houses, Haidai said.
Capturing Sievierodonetsk and its twin city of Lysychansk would give Russia full control over Luhansk. During his nightly address on Saturday, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that “fierce street fights continue in Sievierodonetsk”, adding that the Donbas region was “holding up”.
Credit: theguardian.com
