80 percent of a key contested city in eastern Ukraine is under Russian control

• Sievierodonetsk is the main focus of the fighting in eastern Ukraine.
• Russian troops control about 80 percent of the city and have destroyed all three bridges out.
• More than 500 civilians are sheltering in the Azot chemical plant.

In Sievierodonetsk, a city with a pre-war population of 100,000, only about 12,000 inhabitants remain. Despite controlling approximately 80% of the city and destroying all three bridges going out of it; Russian troops have not yet closed off Sievierodonetsk; the primary focus of battle in eastern Ukraine in recent weeks.

“There is still a chance for the wounded to be evacuated; as well as communication with the Ukrainian military and local population,” Serhiy Haidai, the regional governor of Luhansk, told.

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Because of “the scorched earth tactic and heavy artillery the Russians are utilising”; he conceded that Ukrainian soldiers have been driven out to the city’s industrial outskirts. In Sievierodonetsk, a city with a pre-war population of 100,000; only about 12,000 inhabitants remain. According to Haidai, at than 500 civilians are taking refuge in the Azot chemical complex; which is also being blasted by the Russians.

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