Ukrainian and Russian soldiers battled in close-quarters fighting in an Eastern Ukraine city on Sunday, as Russian forces, backed by intensive bombardment, attempted to acquire vital footholds for conquest in the face of stubborn Ukrainian opposition.
After failing to conquer the capital of Ukraine, Russia is concentrating on occupying areas of Donbas not previously controlled by pro-Russian separatists.
Regional Ukrainian officials said that Russian forces were "storming" Severodonetsk after failing to encircle the city.
The battle knocked off power and mobile service, and a humanitarian aid center was unable to function due to the threat, according to the mayor.
In recent days, the city of Severodonetsk, located approximately 140 kilometers south of the Russian border, has emerged as the epicenter of Moscow's efforts to conquer all of Ukraine's industrial Donbas area.
Russia also increased its efforts to capture the neighbouring city of Lysychansk, where people fled relentless shelling.
Strategically significant Siverskyi Donets River separates the two eastern cities. They are the remaining significant areas under Ukrainian control in Luhansk province, which, along with neighboring Donetsk, comprises the Donbas.
In recent days, Russian soldiers have made modest progress while bombarding Ukrainian strongholds and trapping residents in basements or preventing them from escaping.
Attacks aimed at destroying military objectives across the nation also resulted in civilian casualties.
Civilians who reached the eastern city of Pokrovsk, some 130 kilometers south of Lysychansk, reported that they resisted the Russian advance for as long as they could before fleeing.
According to Serhiy Haidai, the regional governor of Luhansk, relentless bombardment has made the situation in Lysychansk "serious." There have been fatalities and injuries, he tweeted without elaboration on the Telegram chat service.
A Russian shell reportedly struck a high-rise apartment complex on Saturday, killing one civilian and injuring four.
However, he said that some Luhansk supply and evacuation lines were still operational on Sunday. He asserted that the Russians had retreated "with losses" from a settlement near Severodonetsk, but had conducted airstrikes on a neighbouring village on the Siverskyi Donets River.
Saturday, according to Severodonetsk Mayor Oleksandr Striuk, there was violence at the city's bus station.
Striuk stated that residents of the city, which had a prewar population of approximately 100,000, had to risk shelling to obtain water from six wells, and there was no electricity or mobile phone coverage.
Since the start of the war, Striuk estimates that 1,500 civilians have perished as a result of Russian attacks, a lack of medicine, and diseases.
