Sievierodonetsk is “fully occupied” by the Russian army, says its mayor

Sievierodonetsk is in Russian hands. The city of Donbass, the scene of fierce fighting between the Ukrainian and Russian armies for several weeks, is “fully occupied” by the Russian army, announced its mayor, Oleksandre Striouk, on Saturday June 25. The Ukrainian army announced on Friday its withdrawal from this town of around 100,000 inhabitants before the war to better defend the neighboring town of Lyssytchansk.

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According to the mayor, civilians have started to come out of the Azot factory, where several hundred people have taken refuge in recent days to avoid the bombardments. “These people have lived almost three months of their lives in basements, shelters. It’s difficult emotionally and physiologically”he said, believing that “now they need medical and psychological help”.

In the afternoon, a representative of the pro-Russian separatists, Andrei Marochko, had argued that the forces of Moscow had “taken full control of the industrial zone of the Azot factory”. The Russian army now has almost complete control of the region, of which Sievierodonetsk is a part, and “street fights” are underway in Lysytchansk, according to the separatists.