Ukraine: Russia still attacking eastern city

KYIV, Ukraine — The Ukrainian army says Kyiv’s forces continue to frustrate Russian attempts to take the fiercely contested eastern city of Sievierodonetsk.

“The occupiers, with the help of motorized rifle units and artillery, conducted assault operations in the city of Sievierodonetsk. They were not successful; the fighting continues,” the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said in a regular operational update Thursday evening.

It added that Ukrainian forces had successfully repelled a Russian attack on the village of Toshkivka, on the northwestern outskirts of Sievierodonetsk.

The Ukrainian governor of the eastern Luhansk region, where Sievierodonetsk is located, said Thursday that “fierce battles” continue to engulf the city.

The governor of the Luhansk region says that fierce battles continue in Sievierodonetsk and that the Russians continue to pummel neighboring Lysychansk. Those are the only two cities in eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk province not controlled by Russian forces or Moscow-backed separatists. The Russians have been trying to encircle them. This map will not be updated.

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Source: Ukrainian government; Institute for the Study of War with AEI’s Critical Threats Project; OCHA

In a Telegram post, Serhii Haidai said Russian forces continue to shell the neighboring city of Lysychansk using large-caliber weapons which “pierce even concrete.”

“It is extremely dangerous for civilians to remain, even in shelters,” Haidai said.