Russian troops have entered the outskirts of the Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk, according to a regional governor describing the fighting as "very fierce", as Russia stepped up its offensive in Donbas.
Shelling killed two civilians and wounded five others as Russian troops advanced into the city's south-eastern and north-eastern fringes, Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai said.
The Russian focus on Sievierodonetsk had already left the city "completely ruined," Mayor Oleksandr Striuk said.
Artillery barrages have destroyed critical infrastructure and damaged 90 per cent of the buildings. And power and communications have been largely cut to the city that was once home to 100,000 people.
He said only about 12,000 to 13,000 residents remained, sheltering in basements and bunkers to escape the Russian bombardment — a situation recalling the siege of Mariupol which trapped residents and led to some of the worst suffering of the war.
Russia has made capturing Sievierodonetsk — the largest city Ukraine still controls in the eastern region of Luhansk — a key objective.
Incessant shelling has left Ukrainian forces defending ruins in Sievierodonetsk, but their refusal to withdraw has slowed a massive Russian offensive across the Donbas region.
Donbas, an area covering the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, has been partly controlled by pro-Russian separatists since 2014.
"Some 90 per cent of buildings are damaged … more than two-thirds of the city's housing stock has been completely destroyed … there is no telecommunication," Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said in a televised speech.
Ukrainian forces in Donbas said they had been on the defensive, with Russian forces firing on 46 communities in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions.
They killed at least three civilians, wounding two others and destroying or damaging 62 civilian buildings.
Capturing Sievierodonetsk — and its twin city Lysychansk on the opposite bank of the Siverskyi Donets River — would give Russia effective control of Luhansk and allow the Kremlin to declare some form of victory.
However, by focusing its efforts on a battle for the single small city, Russia could leave other territory open to Ukrainian counterstrikes.
Kyiv says its forces pushed back Russian troops in recent days to defensive positions in three villages — Andriyivka, Lozove and Bilohorka — all on the south bank of the Inhulets River that forms the border of Kherson province, where Moscow is trying to consolidate its control.
'A ceasefire now would be a horror'
A Ukrainian soldier on patrol in trenches near the town of Bakhmut, south-west of Sievierodonetsk, spoke of a nagging fear that his government could be drawn into negotiating an end to the conflict that would result in Ukraine losing territory.
"You know now what I'm most afraid of, now that the fighting is so intense, so tough?" said Dmytro, a former English language teacher.
"That we would be told: That's it, stop it, we have a ceasefire.
While the battle in Ukraine continued, European Union leaders reached a compromise to impose a partial oil embargo on Russia.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, said Moscow was ready to facilitate grain exports from Ukrainian ports — a possibility that could alleviate a food crisis as the war and the West's attempt to isolate Russia have sent the price of grain and other commodities soaring.
Separately, French Foreign Affairs Minister Catherine Colonna will meet Mr Zelenskyy in Kyiv to offer more support for the country, the French foreign affairs ministry said.
'Fearful casualties' suffered by Russia
Having failed to take the capital, Kyiv, in the early phase of the war, Russia is seeking to consolidate its grip on the Donbas, large parts of which are already controlled by Moscow-backed separatists.
The Ukrainian government urged the West to provide more longer-range weapons to turn the tide in the war, now in its fourth month. Mr Zelenskyy said he expected "good news" in the coming days.
However, United States President Joe Biden dismissed reports the US was considering sending long-range rocket systems to the country.
Canada has asked South Korea to supply it with artillery rounds, Seoul said on Monday, apparently to "backfill" supplies that Ottawa has sent to Ukraine.
Analysts at the Institute for the Study of War in Washington said the Russians had still not managed to encircle Sievierodonetsk and the Ukrainian defenders had inflicted "fearful casualties" on them.
The Ukrainians were taking serious losses themselves — civilians as well as combatants — they said in a briefing paper.
Reuters/ABC
