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Ukraine said on Monday it was fighting to keep control of the city of Severodonetsk as Russia deploys its modern Terminator vehicles in a battle for the eastern stronghold.
Regional governor Sergey Gaidai said that while the city remained “completely under the Ukrainian flag”, Russian forces had attacked surrounding villages overnight.
The city is part of the eastern Luhansk breakaway enclave where Russia is trying to capture territory from Ukraine after repositioning forces away from Kyiv towards the Donbas region last month.
Mr Gaidai accused Russia of using “scorched earth tactics” by shelling a city which he said had only one working hospital with three doctors and enough supplies for 10 days.
Ukraine’s human rights commissioner Liudmyla Denisova said the Russian attacks were turning Severodonetsk into a “new Mariupol”, the southern port left in ruins by a weeks-long siege.
Settlements are being shelled with artillery and volley fire, and Russia has “thrown all its forces to storm Severodonetsk,” she said.
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Service members of pro-Russian troops drive a tank past a destroyed residential building in the town of Popasna in the Luhansk region, Ukraine. Reuters -
Smoke and dirt rise from the city of Severodonetsk during shelling in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas. AFP -
Russian soldiers Alexander Alexeevich Ivanov and Alexander Vladimirovich Bobykin, left, attend their trial hearing in Kotelva, northeastern Ukraine. AP Photo -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, right, meets with Finnish Prime Minister Sanna Marin in Kyiv, Ukraine. AP -
A man drives a GAZ-21 Volga car past a damaged building in Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine, on the 92nd day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. AFP -
Public transit workers sweep up shrapnel in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Getty Images -
Pro-Russian troops inspect an AT4 anti-tank launcher outside the town of Svitlodarsk in the Donetsk region, Ukraine. Reuters -
People inspect destroyed Russian tanks and armoured vehicles in Irpin, Ukraine. Getty Images -
A local resident pets a cat next to a destroyed house in Vilkhivka village, near Kharkiv, Ukraine. AFP -
The remains of a school in Vilkhivka village, near Kharkiv. AFP -
Widow and daughter of Andriy Vertiev, a Ukrainian serviceman, killed during the Russian invasion of Ukraine, attend his funeral at Lychakiv cemetery, Lviv, Ukraine. AFP -
Russian serviceman Vadim Shishimarin, centre, leaves a court hearing in Kyiv. EPA -
Kateryna Shelikhova, widow of Oleksandr Shelipov, 62, who was shot dead by a Russian soldier. Reuters -
A child plays against a backdrop of buildings ruined by shelling in Borodyanka, Ukraine. AP -
A Ukrainian woman in the basement of a building used as bomb shelter in Soledar, Donetsk region. AP -
Residents live in a subway station used as temporary shelter in Kharkiv. AP -
Men with salvageable material from damaged buildings after Russian bombing in Bakhmut, eastern Ukraine. AP -
A cuddly toy adorns a destroyed Russian battle tank near damaged homes in Hostomel, Ukraine. Getty Images -
A mortar explodes next to a road leading to the city of Lysychansk, in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas. AFP -
A Ukrainian army vehicle moves towards the front line at a checkpoint near Lysychansk. AFP -
A boy looks at flags honouring soldiers killed while fighting Russian troops, in Kyiv city centre. AP -
A mannequin with a fake gun is placed as bait on a roadside in the Nord Saltivka district of Kharkiv. EPA -
A man looks at a destroyed Russian tank placed as a symbol of war, in central Kyiv. AP -
Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on a screen at the opening ceremony for the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland. Reuters -
Smoke billows from an oil refinery after an attack outside the city of Lysychansk, in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas. AFP -
A woman walks by a destroyed apartment building in Bakhmut, Donbas region. AFP -
An elderly woman stands inside her heavily damaged house after it was hit by a missile in Bakhmut. AFP -
A mother with her daughter sit inside a bus as they leave Bakhmut. AFP -
A Ukrainian soldier prepares coffee as he takes a break near an artillery position in the breakaway enclave of Donetsk, in the Donbas region. Reuters -
A Ukrainian soldier exercises near Donetsk. Reuters -
A woman displaced by incessant Russian shelling leaves a metro station where people had been living underground for months in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Getty -
A heavily damaged home spa near Ruski Tyshky village in Ukraine. Getty -
The wreckage of a Ukrainian military helicopter is transported in Kharkiv. Getty -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Polish President Andrzej Duda in Kyiv. EPA -
Two Ukrainian national guard soldiers pay their respects at a cemetery in Kharkiv. AP -
A man pushes a wheelbarrow past a heavily damaged apartment building near Azovstal Iron and Steel Works in Mariupol. Reuters -
The burnt out shells of cars in a residential area near Azovstal Iron and Steel Works in Mariupol. Reuters -
Pro-Russian troops drive a tank in Ukraine's Donetsk region. Reuters -
A Russian soldier takes a break during an operation to demine the territory of Azovstal steel plant in Mariupol. Reuters -
Relatives and friends attend the funeral of a Ukrainian soldier killed in action, in the Odessa region city of Rozdilna. EPA -
Ukrainians wearing traditional clothing listen to their national anthem as they take part in the celebration of 'Vyshyvanka Day', an annual celebration of Ukrainian folk traditions, in Athens. AFP
Western officials say Russia is trying to expand the territory that Moscow-backed separatists have held since 2014 in the eastern Donbas and connect it along the southern coast to the annexed Crimean peninsula.
Britain’s defence ministry said in a regular intelligence update that Russia had probably deployed its only operational company of BMP-T Terminator tank support vehicles to aid the assault on Severodonetsk.
The Terminators are of post-Soviet design and were developed to prevent heavy tank losses following earlier wars in Afghanistan and Chechnya, British officials said.
They said the presence of the tanks in Severodonetsk suggested that a Russian formation known as the Central Grouping of Forces was involved in the attack after suffering heavy losses in the failed offensive towards Kyiv.
“The Severodonetsk area remains one of Russia’s immediate tactical priorities,” the ministry said. “However, with a maximum of ten Terminators deployed, they are unlikely to have a significant impact on the campaign.”
Mortar shells and missiles also continued to pound Kharkiv in the north, as well as Mykolaiv and Zaporizhzhia in the south, Ukrainian officials said.
At least seven civilians were killed while eight others were wounded in Sunday's bombardment of the Donetsk region, said the Ukrainian army.
Russia said it was preparing to resume its offensive on Slovyansk, a city in the Donetsk breakaway enclave, where fierce fighting was reported last month after Moscow’s troops retreated from Kyiv.
Ukraine’s parliament voted on Sunday to extend martial law and mobilise its armed forces for a third time, until August 23.
