‘Most fierce battles’ outside Ukraine’s Sievierodonetsk, says governor

Ukrainian authorities said Saturday that “fierce battles” with Russia raged in villages outside the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk, which Moscow’s forces have been trying to seize control of for weeks.

“Now the most fierce battles are near Sievierodonetsk. They (Russia) do not control the city entirely,” the governor of the eastern Lugansk region, Sergiy Gaiday, said on Telegram.

“In nearby villages there are very difficult fights — in Toshkivska, Zolote. They are trying to break through but failing,” he said.

“Our defenders are fighting Russians in all directions. Recently, they shot down a plane and took captives,” he said.

He also said that Lysychansk — a Ukrainian-controlled city across a river from battered Severodonetsk — is being “heavily shelled”.

“They cannot approach it and that’s why they are simply shooting at the city with air strikes,” he said. “It is very dangerous in the city.”

Gaiday said there was “more destruction” at the Azot chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk, where hundreds of civilians are sheltering.