Fierce fighting continues for control of the eastern Ukrainian city of Sheverodonetsk, with no significant changes reported yesterday, according to Ukrainian officials. “The situation in Severodonetsk is very tense,” Roman Vlasenko, head of the military administration in the Severodonetsk region, told Ukrainian national television. “The battles continue, the street battles continue. The dynamics are very great. The Russians use a lot of artillery. They have a certain advantage in terms of artillery, in terms of personnel. But they do not have real success. “The children from Sheverodonetsk can not win.” Vlasenko said the Ukrainian army in Severodonetsk was “confident” in its defense. On Wednesday, the head of the Luhansk regional military administration, Serhiy Hayday, said most of the city was now controlled by Russian forces, although the Ukrainians had retained control of the Severodonetsk industrial zone. Heidegger told Ukrainian television on Friday that those fighting for Sheverodonetsk were in trouble, “but they clearly understand that they are not threatened by the siege. “They are clearly holding their ground and they understand how things are going,” he said. In a speech Thursday night, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that “Sheverodonetsk, Lysyhansk and other cities in Donbas, which the occupiers now consider key targets, are holding.”
