Russian soldiers have advanced farther into eastern Ukraine’s Donbas area, with Ukrainian officials claiming the surrender of a front-line settlement between the strategically crucial cities of Severodonetsk and Lysychansk.

On Tuesday, Roman Vlasenko, the chief of the Severodonetsk district military administration, declared that Toshkivka now is “controlled entirely by the Russians”.

Toshkivka, which had a pre-war population of around 5,000 people, is located about 25 kilometers (15 miles) south of Severodonetsk in eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk region, which has been targeted by Russian soldiers for weeks as they push for complete control of the Donbas.

The battle for the war-torn land is “now in full swing,” according to Vlasenko, who also warned that Luhansk, which constitutes the Donbas with the neighboring Donetsk region, has become the “epicentre” of conflict.

In recent weeks, the Donbas hostilities have devolved into a deadly war of attrition, with Moscow focusing its massive firepower on a Ukrainian-held pocket of the territory that Moscow claims on behalf of its rebel proxies, the self-proclaimed Donetsk and Luhansk People’s Republics.

But even though they have more artillery, some observers say that Russian forces haven’t made much progress in the Donbas since April, when they moved their offensive there.

One of the fiercest land wars in Europe in decades has seen massive casualties on both sides.

The Russian army is destroying Luhansk

The fighting has crossed the Siverskyi Donets River, which runs through the region, with Russian forces primarily on the east bank and Ukrainian forces primarily on the west bank.

On the east bank, however, Ukrainian forces continue to maintain some territory, with Kyiv’s troops in possession of a portion of an industrial zone on the outskirts of Severodonetsk, which has been the focus of recent combat.

On Tuesday, Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai told the Associated Press that despite intense Russian airstrikes, Ukrainians maintained control of the Azot chemical factory.

Hundreds of people, including dozens of children, are said to be sheltering at the facility, and fears for their safety are growing.

In an attempt to take over Severodonetsk, Russian troops, according to Haidai, are turning the area “into ruins.”

“It is a sheer catastrophe,” he told the Associated Press. “Our positions are being fired at from howitzers, multiple rocket launchers, large-caliber artillery, missile strikes … today everything that can burn is on fire.”

Lysychansk, the only city in the Luhansk region still completely under Ukrainian control, has also been targeted.

On Telegram, Haidai reported that Russian shelling in the city on Monday destroyed ten high-rise structures, private homes, and a police station.

Image Credit: Getty

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