The Ukrainian army strongly resists enemies in Severodonetsk, said Deputy Defense Minister, Hanna Malyar, on a telethon, Radio Svoboda reports.
"It's a hot zone there; the fighting continues… The only thing we can say for sure is that the Armed Forces of Ukraine are putting up stiff resistance, because otherwise, the city would have already come under the control of russian troops. We can say that very professional Ukrainian units are involved. Russians are acting according to their plan - they wanted to reach the administrative border of Donetsk and Luhansk regions, but so far they do not meet the deadline, and they are unable to implement this plan," she said.
Malyar emphasized that it is incorrect to state the percentage of control over the town as the situation keeps changing.
According to the head of the Luhansk Regional Military Administration, Serhiy Gaidai, the Armed Forces of Ukraine control about half of the city. The occupiers do not slow down the assault, but the defenders remain in the town and resist.