Eastern Donbas ‘extremely difficult’ for Ukrainians as Russia intensifies attacks

Luhansk governor says 568 civilians are holed up in chemical plant and Lysychansk being shelled en masse'

• Russia-Ukraine war: latest updates

The military situation for Ukraine's defenders in the eastern Donbas is extremely difficult", the governor of the Luhansk region has said, as Russian attacks intensified in an effort to capture Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk.

Serhiy Haidai said overnight that Russia had said 568 civilians were holed up in the Azot chemical plant at Sievierodonetsk, the last site held by Ukraine's forces in the city on the east bank of the Siverskyi Donets River.