SLOVYANSK, Ukraine (AP) – Russian forces in “frantic pressure” have taken over half of Severodonetsk, the eastern Ukrainian city that is key to Moscow’s efforts to complete the takeover of the Donbass industrial region, the mayor said on Tuesday.
“The city is essentially being ruthlessly destroyed block by block,” said Alexander Struck. He said heavy street fighting continues and artillery shelling threatens the lives of approximately 13,000 civilians who are still sheltering in the destroyed city, which was once home to more than 100,000.
A Russian air strike against Severodonetsk hit a tank of nitric acid in a chemical plant, causing a huge leak of money, according to Sergei Haidai, the governor of Luhansk region. He posted a photo of a large cloud hovering over the city and urged residents to stay inside and wear gas masks or makeshift ones.
Haidai said later Tuesday that “most of Severodonetsk” is under Russian control, although he added that fierce fighting continues and the city is not surrounded.
Severodonetsk is important for Russia’s efforts to capture Donbass before more Western weapons arrive to strengthen Ukraine’s defenses. Moscow-backed separatists have been fighting Ukrainian troops in the region for eight years and held parts of the territory even before the invasion.
President Joe Biden said on Tuesday that the United States would provide Ukraine with the more advanced missile systems its leaders have asked for. In an essay published in The New York Times, Biden said missile systems would allow Ukraine to “hit key targets more accurately.”
Speaking on condition of anonymity, US officials said on condition of anonymity that Washington would send a small number of high-tech medium-range missile systems to Ukraine. The missiles can be used both to intercept Russian artillery and to withdraw Russian positions in cities where fighting is intense, such as Severodonetsk.
The missile systems will be taken from US inventory, which will take them quickly to Ukraine. Ukrainian troops will also need training on the new systems, which could take at least a week or two.
Severodonetsk, 145 kilometers (90 miles) south of the Russian border, is in an area that is the last pocket under Ukrainian government control in the Luhansk region. Donbass consists of the districts of Lugansk and Donetsk.
Struck said more than 1,500 people had died from various causes since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine in late February. Efforts to evacuate Severodonetsk have been suspended due to shelling.
“Civilians are dying from direct blows, shrapnel wounds and the rubble of destroyed buildings, as most residents are hiding in basements and shelters,” Struck said.
The electricity has been cut off and people need water, food and medicine, the mayor said: “There are still a few days of food supplies, but the question is how to distribute them.”
In an evening video address, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the situation in Donbass remains “extremely difficult” as Russia has placed its army’s “maximum combat power” there.
At least three people were killed and six were injured in a Russian rocket attack on the town of Slavyansk, west of Severodonetsk, Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kirilenko said in a Facebook post Tuesday. Among several damaged buildings is a school.
A crater was blown up on the road between two apartment buildings badly cut by shrapnel.
The floor and stairs of a building were stained with blood.
Elena Voitenko, a 59-year-old resident, said she knew one of those killed, a man whose apartment caught fire in the blast.
Another resident, Mihailo Samoluk, said the strike took place in the middle of the night. “I was on my couch and suddenly my couch just jumped in the air,” he said.
___
Juras Karmanau reports from Lviv, and Associate Press writer Lolita S. Baldor of Washington contributed.
___
Follow the AP’s coverage of the war
Add Comment