Mayor describes fierce street fighting in Ukraine’s Sievierodonetsk

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 tells The Associated Press in a telephone interview that “Russian troops have entered the city and street fighting is going on.” He adds that the Ukrainian defenders are fighting to push the Russians out.

Striuk addes that “the Russian troops have advanced a few blocks toward the city center.”

He says that “we have no power and no communications. The city has been completely ruined.”

The mayor says that 12,000-13,000 civilians left in the city are sheltering in basements and bunkers to escape relentless Russian bombardment. He says that “the number of victims is rising every hour, but we are unable to count the dead and the wounded amid the street fighting.”