“Russian forces continue to storm Severodonetsk and control the eastern part of the city,” said Sergei Gaidai, governor of the Lugansk region.

Earlier today, the mayor of Severodonetsk, the main city in eastern Ukraine, Oleksandr Stryuk, said that “Ukrainian forces are trying to regain full control over the city,” noting that “Russian forces have made some progress and I have managed to reach the city and capture most of (its) and divide it into two parts.

“But our soldiers managed to redeploy and build a line of defense. We are currently doing everything we can to restore full Ukrainian control over the city,” Stryuk said in a TV interview.

The mayor pointed out: “The situation is very difficult. We are doing everything in our power to repel the enemy from the city. In parallel with regular artillery shelling, street fighting continues.” “Our armed forces are confident that they will succeed” in recapturing the city, he added.