CityNews Nigeria reports that the governor of the Luhansk region has accused Russia of systematically destroying the city of Severodonetsk and its residents.
Serhiy Haidai said the attacks were relentless as fierce fighting rages in the area.
Severodonetsk is the easternmost place in the Donbas region still held by Ukraine and it is currently a key target for Russian forces.
The Luhansk governor said more civilians in the city had been killed in the latest attacks and buildings had been destroyed, including apartment blocks and a cinema.
But he said Russian troops trying to capture a vital road out had been driven back.
Earlier Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky said the situation remained difficult in the Donbas and Kharkiv regions where he said Russia was trying to “squeeze out some result for itself”.
