SOLEDAR, Ukraine: Russian forces on Thursday hammered the last Ukrainian defences holding a strategic city in the Donbas region as the war approached its 100th day and Washington warned it could still last for months.
Vladimir Putin's troops have set their sights on capturing eastern Ukraine since Ukrainian forces repelled them from seizing Kyiv after the Russian attack began on February 24.
Defending the east has come at a high cost for Ukraine, with President Volodymyr Zelensky reportedly admitting that up to 100 Ukrainian soldiers are dying daily.
Russia's attack -- set to enter its 100th day on Friday -- has killed thousands of people and sent millions of Ukrainians fleeing.
The industrial hub of Severodonetsk in Lugansk, part of the Donbas, has become a key target for Moscow, and the local governor said that 80 per cent of the city was already now under Russian control.
"The most difficult situation is in the Lugansk region, where the enemy is trying to displace our units," said Valeriy Zaluzhnyi, the commander in chief of Ukraine's armed forces in a statement.
"Street fighting continues" in Severodonetsk, said Lugansk regional governor Sergiy Gaiday on Telegram, vowing that Ukrainian forces would fight "until the end".
Severodonetsk's Azot factory, one of Europe's biggest chemical plants, was targeted by Russian soldiers who fired on one of its administrative buildings and a warehouse where methanol was stored.
Ukrainian troops were still holding an industrial zone, Gaiday said, a situation reminiscent of Mariupol where a huge steel works was the south-eastern port city's last holdout until Ukrainian troops finally surrendered in late May.
FUEL TO THE FIRE
Ukraine's commander in chief pleaded for modern armaments from Nato, telling France's top general, Thierry Burkhard that "the enemy has a decisive advantage in artillery."
"It will save the lives of our people".
This week, US President Joe Biden announced that more advanced rocket systems were on the way.
The Himars multiple launch rocket system, or MLRS, is a mobile unit that can simultaneously launch multiple precision-guided missiles up to 80 kilometres away.
They are the centrepiece of a $700 million package unveiled on Wednesday that includes air-surveillance radar, more Javelin short-range anti-tank rockets, artillery ammunition, helicopters, vehicles and spare parts.
But analysts caution against a sudden battlefield game changer, not least because Ukrainian troops need time to learn how to use them effectively.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov accused Washington of "adding fuel to the fire" with the new weapons, although US officials insist Ukraine has promised not to use them to strike inside Russia.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said there were no signs of Russia pulling back its forces: "As best we can assess right now, we are still looking at many months of conflict."
Overnight, a missile struck railway infrastructure near the comparatively stable western city of Lviv, injuring five people, regional governor Maksym Kozytsky said on Thursday.
West of Severodonetsk, in the city of Sloviansk, AFP journalists saw buildings destroyed by a rocket attack.
On Wednesday, at least one person died and two others were injured in Soledar, between Sloviansk and Severodonetsk, AFP saw.
The European Union has also sent weapons and cash for Ukraine, while levelling unprecedented economic sanctions on Moscow.
Germany said on Wednesday it would deliver an air defence system capable of shielding a major city from Russian air raids, although it will take months to get to the frontline. - AFP
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