Russian artillery bombards Sievierodonetsk

KYIV/BAKHMUT, Ukraine, June 13 Reuters -  Russian forces swarmed into the eastern Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk and pounded the zone with artillery Ukrainian officials said on Monday - a scene that mirrored Moscow’s assault on Mariupol last month according to Reuters.  

Pro-Moscow separatists claimed that the last bridge out of Sievierodonetsk had been destroyed and Ukrainian defenders there must now surrender or die. Ukraine said there was still another way out, although that route was severely damaged.  

“The battles are so fierce that fighting for not just a street but for a single high-rise building can last for days,” regional governor Sergei Gadai said on social media. Russian forces now controlled about 70% of Sievierodonetsk, he said.  

Kyiv says the end-result of Sievierodonetsk could hold the key to the outcome of the battle for control of the eastern Donbas region and also the future course of the war.