A Ukrainian official said that Russian forces now control 70% of the city of Severodonetsk in the eastern Donbass region. In return, the separatists accused the Ukrainian forces of launching heavy bombardment on the city of Donetsk.
Ukrainian officials acknowledge the difficult situation in Severodonetsk, on which Russian attacks have intensified for weeks, as well as the adjacent Lysechansk, as the last areas under Ukrainian control in the Lugansk region of the Donbass region.
Sergei Gaidai, the governor of the Lugansk region, said - in posts on social media - that the Russian forces had cut off all possible ways to evacuate civilians stuck in the city, by destroying the last bridges linking it to the city of Lyschansk on the other side of the river.
Gaidai stated that the Russian forces had taken control of about 70% of the city, and that the situation of Ukrainian soldiers there was "difficult, but under control."
A Russian takeover of Severodonetsk would open the way to another major city, Kramatorsk, in the Donbass Basin, a region that is predominantly Russian-speaking and that Moscow wants to fully control.
Pro-Russian separatists have controlled parts of this mining-rich region since 2014.
Zelensky asks for heavy weapons
Meanwhile, Ukraine called on its partners to speed up their supply of heavy weapons to counter the advance of Russian forces.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said on Monday that his country was drawing the attention of the partners that the delivery of sufficiently heavy weapons would put an end to Russia in the Donbass region.
Zelensky spoke of the "horrific" human cost of the ongoing battles in the city of Severodonetsk.
On the other hand, at least 5 people were killed yesterday, Monday, in the areas controlled by the Moscow-backed Ukrainian separatists in Donetsk, located in the Donbass region.
Separatist leaders accused Ukrainian forces of escalating the bombing, but Kyiv has repeatedly denied carrying out any attacks on the Donetsk and Lugansk regions.
According to the separatists and Russian news agencies, Ukrainian artillery shelling hit a maternity hospital in the city of Donetsk, and a market.
The same sources said that a shell fell on the hospital, causing a fire, which prompted workers to transfer patients to the basement.
For his part, UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric said that the news of the bombing of a hospital in Donetsk was "extremely disturbing", adding that "any attack on civilian infrastructure, especially health facilities, is a clear violation of international law."