Ukraine Says Forces Holding Out In Eastern City, Last Bridge Gone

Russia to open corridor to evacuate hundreds of civilians from chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk

KYIV • Ukraine said yesterday that its forces were still holding out inside Sievierodonetsk and trying to evacuate civilians, after Russia destroyed the last bridge to the devastated eastern city in a potential turning point in one of the war’s bloodiest battles.

“The situation is very difficult but there is communication with the city” despite the last bridge over the Siverskyi Donets River having been destroyed, said Sievierdonetsk’s Mayor Oleksandr Stryuk. “Russian troops are trying to storm the city, but the military is holding firm,” he added.

Ukraine says more than 500 civilians are trapped inside a chemical factory in an industrial zone of the city where its forces have resisted weeks of Russian bombardment and assault.

Evacuations were still being carried out “every minute when there is a lull and there is a possibility of transportation”, Mr Stryuk said.

Both sides claim to have inflicted huge casualties in the fighting over the city, Russia’s main target in its battle for the east after it failed to capture the Ukrainian capital Kyiv in March.