Ten thousand civilians still trapped in Ukraine’s Sievierodonetsk

The Mayor of Sievierodonetsk – a key city in war-torn Ukraine where Russian troops have intensified their assault – has said as many as 10,000 civilians are trapped in the city and their evacuation is “impossible”. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has described the battle of Sievierodonetsk raging for days now as “one of the most difficult” since the start of the war.   
“This is a very brutal battle, very tough, perhaps one of the most difficult throughout this war. Sievierodonetsk remains the epicentre of the encounter in Donbas...Largely, that is where the fate of our Donbas is being decided now.”   

The war between Russia and Ukraine is in its fourth month and the fighting is now focused on Sievierodonetsk – one of the last areas under Ukrainian control in Luhansk- one of two provinces that make up the Donbas. Russia-backed separatists have already controlled some parts of the Donbas region for eight years.   

Mayor Oleksandr Stryuk said, “Ukrainian forces still hold the industrial zone and adjacent areas in Sievierodonetsk and the situation is difficult but manageable, but evacuating 10,000 remaining civilians is now impossible.”   

Moscow’s forces are concentrating on the strategically important industrial hub as part of efforts to capture a swathe of eastern Ukraine. The fighting has reminded Ukraine of Mariupol horrors, a port city that fell to Russia after weeks of fighting. 
Ukraine, (Hindustan Times), 09 June 2022