LVIV, Ukraine — Russian troops appear close to fully capturing the key Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk, pushing them closer to their goal of taking over two eastern provinces and raising pressure on the U.S. and its European allies to quickly deliver advanced weapons systems to try to turn the tide.
Moscow’s forces have taken control of “most” of Severodonetsk, Britain’s Defense Ministry said in a briefing Thursday. Its gains follow street battles and heavy artillery bombardment that has leveled swaths of the city near the banks of the strategic Seversky Donets River.
Capture of the city could precipitate the fall of Luhansk, one of two eastern provinces bordering Russia that form the Donbas region, where the Kremlin has concentrated its military might after its failure to seize the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv.
