Russia has seized town on the outskirts of Severodonetsk, Ukrainian officials say

Russian forces have managed to capture the town of Metelkine, east of the strategic city of Severodonetsk, according to a regional official on Monday.

“Unfortunately, we currently do not control Metelkine near the regional center,” said Serhiy Hayday, head of Luhansk’s regional military administration.

The Russians have intensified their use of artillery and air strikes to hit Ukrainian positions in and around Severodonetsk as the battle for the strategic city continues to drag on, Hayday added.

“They are hard at work in the industrial zone of Severodonetsk and on the outskirts of the city,” said Hayday. “The same is true in Toshkivka and Ustynivka districts.”

“(They) want to make a breakthrough and, for that, they have gathered a large amount of equipment in that region”, he added. “Fighting is taking place in many villages around Severodonetsk and Lysychansk.”

Severodonetsk is in the heart of Donbass, a large industrial region in eastern Ukraine that has been the site of sporadic fighting since 2014, when Russian-backed separatists took control of two territories there – the self-declared People’s Republic of Donetsk and People’s Republic of Luhansk. .

Last week, Hayday said Russian forces control most of Severodonetsk, adding that the “situation remains difficult”.

His comments came as Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said the fight for the city could determine the outcome of the war in the east of the country.
“Severodonetsk remains the epicenter of the fighting in Donbas,” Zelensky said at the time.

“This is a very fierce, very difficult battle… Probably one of the toughest in this war,” he added. “In many ways, the fate of our Donbas is being decided there.”