Russian soldiers have nearly encircled and are attempting to attack Severodonetsk, Ukraine’s easternmost city held by Kyiv, according to a local official.

“The city is almost surrounded by Russian and (separatist) Lugansk People’s Republic troops,” Severodonetsk military administration chief Oleksandr Striuk said on Ukrainian television.

“They are trying to storm the city through nearby villages,” he explained, revealing plans for a multi-pronged assault.

The conquest of Severodonetsk would be a significant victory for the Russian army, which has refocused its efforts on capturing the whole eastern Donbas area.

Striuk said combat was still going on in a hamlet north of Severodonetsk.

He said that the Ukrainian army had “repelling these attacks” thus far, but that the Russians were pressing forward.

“The city is holding on, but one can feel that they are trying to get around.”

Striuk said Severodonetsk, which had a population of roughly 100,000 before the war, has around 15,000 people left.

He claims that evacuation rates have slowed, with “about 10 people a day that can be persuaded to leave”.

For weeks, regional officials have urged residents to evacuate the city, which is an industrial centre in Ukraine’s Lugansk region.

The Donets River separates it from the adjacent Lysychansk.

Both cities are important objectives for the Russian army.

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