Live updates | Ukraine says east under relentless attacks

KYIV, Ukraine — A regional governor in Ukraine says that the situation in a key eastern town has worsened.

Luhansk Gov. Serhiy Haidai said Monday that fierce fighting was continuing in the city of Sievierodonetsk in the epicenter of the Russian offensive. He described the combat situation as “quite dynamic."

“Our defenders managed to conduct counteroffensive and free nearly half of the city, but the situation has worsened again now," Haidai told the AP. “Our guys are defending the positions in the industrial zone on the outskirts of the city.”

“The shelling of Sievierodonetsk has intensified, (the Russians) are destroying everything in line with their scorched earth tactics,” he alleged.

Haidai said that the Russians have continued intensive bombardment also of nearby Lysychansk.

The Russians “have an enormous amount of equipment and personnel, they have pulled up a lot of reserves,” he said. He added that they had shelled a humanitarian center in Lysychansk and destroyed a bakery, and that 98 people had left the town over the past 24 hours.

Haidai said that a key highway between Bakhmut and Lysychansk has been under constant shelling even though it remains in Ukrainian hands.

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KEY DEVELOPMENTS IN THE RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR:

— UK boosts Ukraine with high-tech missile system

— American spy agencies review their misses on Ukraine, Russia

— In eastern Ukraine, keeping the lights on is a dangerous job

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Follow AP’s coverage of the war in Ukraine at https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine

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OTHER DEVELOPMENTS:

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