Russian forces have taken control of the eastern Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk, in Ukraine’s Luhansk region, delivering a significant victory for President Vladimir Putin, four months after he ordered his troops into Ukraine.
The fall of Severodonetsk on Saturday came after the strategic city – with a pre-war population of 100,000 – endured weeks of heavy bombardment. The battle culminated with a Ukrainian decision to retreat after street-by-street fighting in the city’s industrial zone, where Ukrainian fighters had held out for weeks in the Azot chemical plant together with hundreds of civilians.
