Russian forces now control “most” of eastern Ukraine’s Sievierodonetsk, the scene of fierce battles for days as the Russian army tries to seize it, the local governor said Tuesday.
“Unfortunately, today, Russian troops control most of the city,” the governor of the Luhansk region, Sergiy Gaiday, said in a video. He said “90 percent” of the city was destroyed.
He said there was now “no possibility to leave Sievierodonetsk.”
Moscow’s forces appeared to be advancing in their goal of seizing the key city, with Gaiday several hours earlier saying they controlled “half” of it.
For all the latest headlines follow our Google News channel online or via the app.
He nonetheless said that Kyiv's army still “holds the defenses in their current positions.”
He added that the Ukrainian military was not in danger of being “surrounded.”
“The fear that our military will be surrounded somewhere… It will not happen,” he said, adding that the soldiers were “constantly communicating” with Ukrainian authorities.
An evacuation bus had to stop its mission from taking people out of Sievierodonetsk Monday after a French journalist travelling with it was killed by Russian shelling.
Read more:
Russia strikes ‘nitric acid tank’ at chemical plant in Ukraine: Official
Germany announces swap deal with Greece for tanks to Ukraine
Macron suggests to Putin UN resolution to end Odesa blockade
