The President of Ukraine. Volodymyr Zelensky has said the battle for Severodonetsk is “terrifying,” adding that the human cost of the battle was “very high.” he made the remark on Monday evening during his daily address to the Ukrainian people.
He also spoke about the strategic importance of the city, which sits in the Donbas region of eastern Ukraine.
Speaking on Telegram, Mr Zelensky said: “The human cost of this battle is very high for us. It is simply terrifying.”
As at Monday, Russian forces are close to fully occupying the area with all three bridges to the embattled eastern Donbas already destroyed, said regional governor Serhiy Haidai earlier in the day.
The destruction of the bridges to the eastern front-line city means civilians can no longer be evacuated but Haidai said there is still some “access” to the city and that Russia had not gained full control of Severodonetsk, with a “part” of it still under Ukraine’s control.
Severodonetsk, a manufacturing centre in the Luhansk region, is key in Russia’s quest to conquer the Donbas and would be one of the final cities in the region to fall to Putin if it were taken.