Ukraine announced on Monday that it had lost control of Metolkine, a village on the outskirts of Severodonetsk, in the east of the country, a key city in Donbass which Russian forces have been trying to take full control for weeks.
“Unfortunately, we no longer control Metolkin,” Lugansk region governor Sergiy Gaidai said in a statement posted on social media.
Russia’s capture of this village, which had a pre-war population of around 1,000, is the latest Russian push into and around Severodonetsk, where Moscow’s army has met strong Ukrainian resistance. .
Russian troops have slowly advanced into the Donbass region, made up of the provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk, where they have focused their military efforts after being driven out of areas around the capital at the start of their invasion of Ukraine in February.
The Azot chemical plant in Severodonetsk, which is said to house hundreds of civilians, is “permanently” bombed by Russian forces, according to Sergei Gaïdaï.
The Mayor of Severodonetsk, Olexander Stryuk, meanwhile told Ukrainian television on Monday that the Moscow army controlled most of the city’s residential areas.
“If we talk about the whole city, even more than a third is controlled by our armed forces. The Russians control the rest,” he said.
“There are street fights 24 hours a day,” he added, adding that Ukrainian troops were regularly bombarded.
Evacuations of civilians from Severodonetsk have been impossible for several days, after a last bridge connecting to the neighboring town of Lyssytchansk was destroyed.