The mayor of a Ukrainian city at the epicenter of the Russian offensive says that fierce street battles are going on there.
Sievierodonetsk Mayor Oleksandr Striuk told The Associated Press in a telephone interview Monday that “Russian troops have entered the city and street fighting is going on.” He added that the Ukrainian defenders were fighting to push the Russians out.
Striuk added that “the Russian troops have advanced a few blocks toward the city center.”
He said that “we have no power and no communications. The city has been completely ruined.”
The mayor said that 12,000-13,000 civilians left in the city are sheltering in basements and bunkers to escape relentless Russian bombardment. He said that “the number of victims is rising every hour, but we are unable to count the dead and the wounded amid the street fighting.”
Striuk said that 1,500 residents of the city have died since the start of the war.
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