Russia using ‘scorched earth’ tactics in Donbas, Ukraine says

Smoke rises from an oil refinery after an attack outside the city of Lysychansk [Aris Messinis/AFP]

Heavy fighting between Ukrainian and Russian forces has continued in eastern Ukraine’s Donbas region, as Moscow’s troops pressed on with their advance on Severodonetsk, where local officials accused Russia of using “scorched-earth” tactics.

Severodonetsk and its twin city of Lysychansk form the eastern part of a Ukrainian-held pocket that Russia has been trying to capture since mid-April, when it shifted focus to the south and east after abandoning its offensive to take Ukraine’s capital, Kyiv.