Ukrainian troops said on Sunday they repelled Russian attacks on villages near Severodonetsk, a key city in the east of the country, where the two armies have been fighting bloody battles for weeks, the armed forces of Kyiv announced on Sunday.
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“Our units repelled the assault in the Toshkivka area,” the Ukrainian military said on Facebook. “The enemy has retreated and is regrouping.”
The Ukrainian military added that Russian forces were “storming” the village of Orikhove, but had “successfully repelled” an attack near that village.
On Saturday, officials said fierce battles were taking place in localities outside Severodonetsk, which they said are mostly, but not entirely, under Russian control.
“All statements by the Russians that they control Severodonetsk are lies. Indeed, they control the majority of the city but they do not control it entirely,” local governor Serguiï Gaïdaï said on Telegram on Sunday.
He added that Russian forces were “constantly replenishing their army with reinforcements”, bringing new troops to Severodonetsk and the surrounding area.
“They are now using so-called exploration tactics, they are trying to go step by step, meter by meter,” he added.
Ukrainian authorities are continuing evacuations from Lysychansk across the river from Severodonetsk which is heavily targeted by shelling, he said.
Evacuations from Severodonetsk have not been possible for days, after the destruction of the last bridge over the river connecting it to Lysychansk.
Ukrainian authorities say hundreds of people took cover from the shelling at the Azot chemical plant in Severodonetsk.
Serguiï Gaïdaï declared that the factory had been “hit twice” in 24 hours and that its “treatment plant” had been destroyed.
The UN warned this week that civilians in Severodonetsk lack clean water, food and sanitation.