Russian troops reach fringes of key city in Ukraine's Donbas

Severodonetsk has become a key objective for Moscow as it presses forward with its offensive in region

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Russian troops have reached the edge of Ukrainian city Severodonetsk, a regional governor has said.

“Very fierce” fighting has already begun in the city, said Luhansk Governor Serhiy Gaidai. The city has become a key objective for Russia's offensive in the Donbas region in the eastern part of Ukraine.

Shelling killed two civilians and wounded five others as Russian troops advanced into the city's south-eastern and north-eastern fringes, Mr Gaidai said on Monday.

Ukrainian forces have defended a city in ruins and their refusal to withdraw has slowed Moscow's offensive across the region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said that about 90 per cent of the buildings had been damaged.

“More than two thirds of the city's housing stock has been completely destroyed. There is no telecommunication,” Mr Zelenskyy said in a televised speech.

“Capturing Severodonetsk is a fundamental task for the occupiers … We do all we can to hold this advance.”

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov on Sunday said the “liberation” of the Donbas, an industrial region which includes the breakaway enclaves of Luhansk and Donetsk, was an “unconditional priority” for Moscow.

Rescuers carry the body of civilian from a residential building damaged by shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine. Reuters

Kharkiv, Ukraine's second city, is feeling the strain after coming under heavy Russian bombardment. Reuters

Ukrainian troops help an elderly man out of a damaged apartment building after an air strike in the city of Slovyansk in Donbas region. AFP

A school bus carrying Ukrainian refugees leaves Kharkiv. EPA

The pain of war hits this woman hard shortly after her apartment building in Slovyansk was damaged by Russian shelling. AFP

A crater scars the road surface in Slovyansk, Donbas. AFP

A Russian soldier oversees the loading of steel on to a Russian ship at Mariupol port in Ukraine. AP

European Council President Charles Michel, right, and Estonian Prime Minister Kaja Kallas, left, talk before the second day's session of an extraordinary meeting of EU leaders to discuss Ukraine, energy and food security, in Brussels. AP

Rescuers extinguish a fire at a meat factory, amid fighting in Mykolaiv, Ukraine. Reuters

A man waits to collect water in Mariupol. AFP

Ukrainians cross a makeshift bridge built next to a destroyed structure, in the Kharkiv region. EPA

A destroyed tank in Mariupol. AFP

People charge electronic devices outside a theatre building, in Mariupol. Reuters

Pensioner Gennady Ivanov, 83, sits outside a residential building heavily damaged by shelling, in Mariupol. Reuters

Ukrainian firefighters try to extinguish a fire at a house that was hit by Russian strikes, in Kharkiv. AP

Russian Navy sailors of the Black Sea Fleet prepare to raise a sunken Ukrainian warship at the sea port, in Mariupol. AP

A Ukrainian soldier in the city of Lysytsansk, in the eastern region of Donbas. AFP

A boy, Yarik, plays in a playground in front a building destroyed during attacks, in Irpin. AP

Two Ukrainian soldiers enjoy a tender off-duty moment near the village of Stoyanka, Kyiv region. GettyImages

A girl in Kyiv looks at Russian weapons used in the attack on Ukraine. Reuters

Children play on a destroyed car in a residential area of Mariupol. AFP

Demonstrators hold Ukrainian flags at a charity telethon in support of Ukraine, in Berlin. Reuters

Ukrainian servicemen near Zaytseve village in Donetsk, Ukraine. EPA

A shell hole near a destroyed building in Zaytseve village. EPA

In the Saltivka district of Kharkiv, writing on the vans reads "warning, shelling" and "warning, passing by for civilians is prohibited". AFP

A heavily damaged residential building in the Saltivka district of Kharkiv. AFP

Ukrainian servicemen inspect a Russian amphibious vehicle near Kharkiv, eastern Ukraine. AP

A rocket launcher belonging to a "Donetsk People's Republic" militia is fired from its position not far from Panteleimonivka, eastern Ukraine. AP

The damaged building of the economics department of Karazin National University in Kharkiv. AFP

Karazin National University in Kharkiv came under heavy Russian bombardment. AFP

Ukrainian troops approach a destroyed military vehicle in the village of Rus'ka Lozova, north of Kharkiv. AFP

A bridge is a destroyed near Rus'ka Lozova, north of Kharkiv. AFP

A building after a Russian military strike in the town of Marinka, as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues, in Donetsk region. Reuters

An employee mows the lawn near a destroyed warehouse refrigerator, belonging to the Chanta factory, in Novi Petrivtsi, near Kyiv. AFP

Defiant Ukrainian service members ride on top of a military vehicle, amid Russia's invasion of Ukraine, on the road connecting Kostiantynivka and Bakhmut, in Donetsk region. Reuters

Vladimir Mihailovich, a solar plant manager, surveys a crater after the business in Merefa on the outskirts of Kharkiv was hit by Russian shelling. Reuters

A KA-52 helicopter gunship fires rockets on a mission at an undisclosed location in Ukraine. AP

Locals walk past a road damaged by shelling in a residential area in Kharkiv. EPA

Diana, on the train, waves to her mother Viktoriya and sister Kseniya as she leaves Pokrovsk in eastern Ukraine. AP

Yana Skakova and her son Yehor, who fled from Lysychansk, sit in an evacuation train in Pokrovsk, eastern Ukraine. AP

Mr Lavrov also denied reports that said President Vladimir Putin is ill, saying there were no signs pointing to any ailment.

Mr Putin's health and private life are almost never discussed in public in Russia.

“I don't think that sane people can see in this person signs of some kind of illness or ailment,” Mr Lavrov said, according to Russia's foreign ministry.

“You can watch him on screens, read and listen to his speeches [every day]. I leave it to the conscience of those who spread such rumours.”

Ukrainian forces in the Donbas region said they were on the defensive all day on Sunday. Russian forces fired on 46 communities in the Donetsk and Luhansk enclaves, killing at least three civilians, wounding two others or destroying or damaging 62 civilian buildings.

Russian shelling also continued on Sunday across several regions, including Novy Buh in Mykolaiv and Sumy.

Pro-Russian troops fire a leaflet shell in the direction of Severodonetsk to disperse information in the Luhansk breakaway enclave. Reuters

A Ukrainian soldier on patrol in trenches near the town of Bakhmut, south-west of Severodonetsk, expressed fear that his government could be drawn into negotiating an end to the conflict that would result in Ukraine losing territory.

“You know now what I am most afraid of, now that the fighting is so intense, so tough? That we would be told: that's it, stop it, we have a ceasefire,” Dmytro, a former English language teacher, told Reuters television.

“A negotiated settlement can only happen on Ukrainian terms and at present if it happened it would be a horror.”

He said such a move could end Mr Zelenskyy's career.

EU leaders will meet on Monday and Tuesday to discuss a new sanctions package against Russia, including an oil embargo.