Live updates: follow the latest news on Russia-Ukraine
Up to 100 soldiers are being killed every day in frontline fighting against Russian troops, with hundreds more being wounded in "brutal and difficult" battles, Ukraine's defence minister has said.
Fighting raged on the streets of Severodonetsk again on Thursday, with Russian forces destroying “everything that can be used for defence”, said Luhansk's regional governor Sergiy Gaiday.
The city has come under fire for weeks and Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has called it the “epicentre of the confrontation in Donbas”.
Defence Minister Oleksiy Reznikov said: "The situation at the front lines is difficult. Every day we have up to 100 of our soldiers killed and up to 500 wounded. The Kremlin continues to press by sheer mass, stumbles, faces strong resistance and suffers huge casualties."
Petro Kusyk, commander of Ukraine's Svoboda National Guard Battalion, said Ukrainians were drawing the Russians into street fighting in Severodonetsk to neutralise Moscow's artillery advantage.
The Russian military is advancing in parts of the Donbas region, the key battlefield of the war in Ukraine, the UK Ministry of Defence said on Thursday.
The push, to the south of Izium, is believed to be an attempt to regain momentum and pile pressure on Ukrainian fighters defending Severodonetsk, the MoD said in a daily briefing.
“Fighting continues in the Severodonetsk pocket but, in the last 48 hours, Russia’s Eastern Group of Forces [EGF] have also likely increased their efforts to advance to the south of Izium,” the MoD said.
“Russia’s progress on the Izium axis had remained stalled since April, after Ukrainian forces made good use of the terrain to slow Russia’s advance.
“Russia has likely attempted to reconstitute EGF after they suffered very heavy casualties in the failed advance on Kyiv, but its units likely remain understrength.
“Russia likely seeks to regain momentum in this area in order to put further pressure on Severodonetsk, and to give it the option of advancing deeper into the Donetsk Oblast.”
-
British citizens Aiden Aslin, left, and Shaun Pinner, right, and Moroccan Saaudun Brahim, centre, sit behind bars in a courtroom in the breakaway eastern Ukrainian enclave of Donetsk. The three were sentenced to death by pro-Moscow rebels for fighting on Ukraine's side. AP -
A Ukrainian soldier fires a machine gun near the town of New York in the breakaway Donetsk enclave. Reuters -
The gutted remains of cars lie along a road during heavy fighting in Severodonetsk. AP -
Ukrainian soldiers ride an armoured vehicle near the city of Bakhmut, in the breakaway Donetsk enclave. EPA -
Ukrainian soldiers and members of civilian demining organisations take part in a training exercise for bomb disposal experts in Peja, Kosovo. Getty -
Volunteers clear debris near a damaged shopping mall after night shelling in Kharkiv, Ukraine. EPA -
A man walks past a college on fire after a strike in Lysychansk in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas. AFP -
Ukrainian service members near the town of Soledar. Reuters -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Kyiv. AFP -
Residents kneel during a funeral procession for senior lieutenant Vasyl Herych, 31, of the 15th Separate Mountain Assault Battalion, who was killed in Perechyn, Ukraine. Reuters -
People hide in a bomb shelter in the city of Lysychansk in the Donbas region. AFP -
Ivan Sosnin, 19, surveys the damage to his home in Lysychansk. AFP -
Ukrainian troops repair a tank in the Donbas region. AFP -
Ukrainian troops fire rockets towards Russian positions at a front line in the Donbas region. AFP -
Volunteers from a Danish NGO demonstrate how to search for explosive devices with help of a loop metal detector, outside the town of Ichnia in Ukraine. Reuters -
A firefighter takes a break after putting out a fire at a house in a district of Kharkiv that was bombed by Russian forces. Reuters -
Plumes of smoke rise from a house on fire after a military strike by Russian forces in Kharkiv. Reuters -
The damaged house of Inna Bobryntseva, a woman who died during Russian shelling, in Kharkiv. Ukrainian officials exhumed her body from her backyard as part of an investigation into war crimes. Reuters -
A man moves items from a damaged shop in Kharkiv after a Russian military strike the night before. Reuters -
Civilian militia men hold shotguns during training at a shooting range on the outskirts of Kyiv, Ukraine. AFP -
A woman walks by a destroyed apartment building in the town of Borodyanka. AFP -
Rescuers dismantle collapsing structures of a heavily damaged 16-storey residential building in the Saltivka district of Kharkiv. AFP -
A Ukrainian bomb disposal worker carries unexploded ordnance during mine clearance work in the village of Yahidne, in the liberated territories of the Chernihiv region. AFP -
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, centre, visits the military during a trip to the Zaporizhzhia region. AFP -
Ukrainian service members fire a shell from a M777 Howitzer in the Donetsk region as Russia's attack on Ukraine continues. Reuters -
Ukrainian servicemen manoeuvre a tank near the frontline in the Donetsk region. AP Photo -
The remains of the Darnytsia Car Repair Plant damaged by missile strikes in Kyiv. EPA -
A couple embrace on Maidan square in Kyiv. AP Photo -
Smoke rises from a residential area in Kyiv. Mayor Vitali Klitschko said several explosions occurred following missile strikes in the Darnytskyi and Dniprovskyi districts of the capital with no casualties reported. EPA -
A woman holds a poster showing Russian President Vladimir Putin during a protest against the war in Ukraine at the Brandenburg Gate in Berlin. AP -
Smoke rises in the background after Russian missile strikes in Kyiv. AP -
A Ukrainian serviceman pauses before going back to the frontline in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. AP -
Firefighters dampen down a rail facility in the Darnytsia district of Kyiv after a Russian air strike. EPA -
An elderly woman sits in front of destroyed houses after a missile strike, which killed a civilian, in the city of Druzhkivka in the eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas. AFP -
A man examines an apartment destroyed during shelling in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine. Five civilians were killed and 20 were injured. EPA -
Residents examine cars destroyed during shelling in Donetsk. EPA -
Civilians are evacuated from apartments destroyed during shelling in Donetsk. EPA -
A man looks on as smoke rises after explosions were heard in Kyiv. Reuters -
Residents chat in front of a destroyed building in Borodianka, as Russia's attacks on Ukraine continue. Reuters -
A monument to Ukrainian poet Taras Shevchenko, damaged by shelling in Borodianka. Reuters -
Men scavenge a burnt Russian military vehicle for parts and scrap metal in Novyi Bykiv. Getty -
A crater and a destroyed building after a rocket attack on a small airfield near Kharkiv. EPA -
Ukrainian howitzers in action at an undisclosed location. AFP -
A girl rides a scooter past a destroyed building in the village of Horenka, Kyiv. AFP -
Pope Francis hugs a child during a meeting at the Vatican with children with disabilities and Ukrainian children who fled their country. Reuters -
Ukrainian emergency works at a damaged building following shelling in Kharkiv. AP -
Members of a medical rescue team gather inside their temporary base in the Donetsk region of eastern Ukraine. AP -
A woman sits at a destroyed bus station in the city of Mariupol. AFP -
Residents are evacuated from Slovyansk, eastern Ukraine. AP
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson said any attempts to impose a "bad peace" on Ukraine, through granting territorial concessions to Russia, would be "morally repugnant".
"Never mind that abandoning the Ukrainians would be morally repugnant, since they are the victims and they have an absolute right to defend a free and independent country," he said.
"We are simply not in a position to tell them what to do."
Mr Johnson did not identify anyone pushing for a peace deal. But last week, French President Emmanuel Macron drew criticism for saying the West "should not humiliate Russia" and instead provide Mr Putin with a diplomatic "exit ramp".
Russian troops have been trying to seize Severodonetsk, a city that had a population of more than 100,000 before the invasion, while facing Ukrainian counter-attacks.
About 15,000 people remain and Russian troops control a large area of the city, local authorities said.
“It is a very brutal fight, a very difficult one,” Mr Zelenskyy said in his daily video address.
“It is probably one of the most difficult during the whole war. In many respects, the fate of our Donbas is being decided there.”
Mr Gaiday said Severodonetsk was “largely” under Russian control after fierce fighting, while its twin city of Lysychansk was suffering heavy damage.
“The industrial zone is still ours, there are no Russians there. The fighting is only going on in the streets inside the city," he said.
“The Russians are shooting at everything. They are destroying all the houses in Severodonetsk, with tanks, artillery.
“They are shooting at the industrial zone too, but the fighting is going on, our guys are resisting in the streets.”
The city has become the focus of Russia's offensive as it seeks to seize the eastern flank of Ukraine, after being repelled from the capital Kyiv and other parts of the country.
Severodonetsk and Lysychansk, which are separated by a river, were the last areas under Ukrainian control in the region.
