Kyiv: The Russian military said it used long-range missiles on Wednesday to destroy a depot in the western Lviv region of Ukraine where ammunition for NATO-supplied weapons was being stored.
Those strikes came as fighting raged for the city of Sievierodonetsk in Ukraine’s eastern Donbas area, the key focus of Russia’s offensive in recent weeks.
Russia-backed separatists accused Ukrainian forces of sabotaging an evacuation of civilians from the city’s besieged Azot chemical plant, where about 500 civilians and an unknown number of Ukrainian fighters are believed to be sheltering from missile attacks. It wasn’t possible to verify that claim.
A humanitarian corridor from the Azot plant had been announced a day earlier by Russia but they said it would take civilians to areas controlled by Russian forces, not Ukrainian ones.
The Ukrainian governor of Luhansk Serhiy Haidai on Wednesday refused to comment on Russian statements regarding a humanitarian corridor for civilians at the plant, but told The Associated Press that heavy fighting in Sievierodonetsk continues today as well .
The situation in the city is getting worse, Haidai admitted, because Russian forces have more manpower and weapons.
But our military is holding back the enemy from three sides at once, Haidai said. The enemy is advancing because of significant advantage in artillery and people, but the Ukrainian army is holding on to its positions in the city. AP