Russian forces swarmed into the Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk on Monday, bombing an area sheltering hundreds of civilians and mirroring the horror Mariupol assault.
Moscow’s troops now control about 70% of the key city and are trying to cut off around 500 locals sheltering in an industrial complex - just like Mariupol.
The assault on the ruined Luhanks city - whose toppling will mark a major Russian victory - underlined a desperate race for western weapons to get to Ukraine’s frontline.
Pro-Moscow separatists claimed the last bridge out of Severodonetsk had been destroyed and Ukrainian defenders there must now surrender or die.
Ukraine said there was still another way out via the city’s last remaining bridge although that route was severely damaged.
Ukraine has issued increasingly urgent calls for more Western weapons to help defend Severodonetsk, which Kyiv says is a battle for control of the eastern Donbas region.
Regional governor Sergei Gadai said:"The battles are so fierce that fighting for not just a
street but for a single high-rise building can last for days.”
Russian forces now control about 70% of Severodonetsk, he said, and were destroying it in one of the bloodiest assaults since they launched their invasion on Feb. 24.
He said: "Russians continue to storm the city, having a significant advantage in artillery they have somewhat pushed back the Ukrainian soldiers.
"About 500 civilians remain on the grounds of the Azot plant in Severodonetsk, 40 of them are children. Sometimes the military manages to evacuate someone.”
Ukraine's account of civilians trapped in an industrial plant echoed the fall of Mariupol last month, where hundreds of civilians and badly wounded Ukrainian soldiers were holed up for weeks.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said severe fighting was ongoing in the Donbas, "literally for every metre" and that child casualties of attacks had created a lasting image of Russia for the rest of the world.
He said: "Not Peter the Great… but children injured and killed in Russian attacks.”
He referred to President Vladimir Putin's comparison of Moscow's military campaign to Russian
emperor Peter the Great's 18th century conquest of lands held by Sweden.
So far 288 Ukrainian children have been killed by the February 24 Russian invasion and 527 injured.
Post bombing assessment shows Russian cruise missiles destroyed a large ammo and weapons depot in Ternopil, west Ukraine, according to Moscow.
If true, it marks a fresh bid by Putin's forces to pin down transport hubs for weapons from west to east.
Yesterday President Zelensky’s office delivered a massive shopping list of deadly weaponry it needs urgently to beat Russia.
It includes 1,000 howitzer artillery systems, 300 Multi Launch Rocket Systems, 500 tanks. 2,000 armoured Vehicles and 1,000 drones.
Last night (Mon) Ukraine claimed Russia’s total troop losses are now 32, 300 dead.
Latest figures said 1, 432 Russian tanks had been destroyed, along with 3,492 armoured personnel vehicles.
Kyiv said 178 of Moscow’s helicopters had been blown up along with 585 drones.
