Russian missiles slam Ukraine chemical plant
KYIV, Ukraine — The sprawling Azot chemical plant in the heavily embattled city of Sieverodonetsk has been almost completely destroyed by Russian missiles, the Ukrainian military said on Friday, amid fears over the fate of civilians sheltering at the site.
“There are no more intact administrative buildings on the territory of the chemical giant,” wrote the governor of the eastern Ukrainian province of Luhansk, Serhii Haidai, on Telegram.
At the same time, Haidai said that Ukrainian forces are continuing to offer resistance to the weekslong Russian onslaught.
The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces made similar observations in its daily situation report.
“The fighting over full control of Sieverodonetsk is continuing,” the report said. While Russia is moving more artillery into the area, both the general staff and Haidai said that an attack on the suburb of Zolote was repelled.
While Moscow has taken the residential areas of the city, Ukrainian troops have barricaded themselves in industrial zones and the chemical plant.
The city’s remaining civilians are also said to be trapped in the plant, with all evacuation attempts having failed.
According to Kyiv, a major Russian assault on the strategically important city of Sloviansk, to the west of Sieverodonetsk, has failed for now.
The attempt to seize a municipality about 12 miles north of Sloviansk was successfully repelled, the general staff said.
However, over the last 24 hours, Russian forces have likely continued to attempt to regain momentum on the Popasna axis, from which they seek to surround the Sieverodonetsk pocket from the south, according to British intelligence.
The Ukrainian General Staff also stated that Russia launched further air strikes in the Donetsk province and heavy artillery bombardment in the south of Ukraine, at the border of the provinces of Kherson and Mykolaiv, where Ukrainians also launched several airstrikes on Russian outposts.
The Ukrainian navy, meanwhile, said it had severely damaged a Russian tugboat carrying weapons and supplies in the Black Sea.
The ship was supposed to bring ammunition, weapons and soldiers to Snake Island, which sits about 21 miles off the coast and has been occupied by Russian forces since the end of February.
It is not possible to verify these claims independently.
As the fighting rages on, diplomatic efforts continued to support Ukraine.
The European Commission recommended that Ukraine and Moldova become official candidates for European Union membership, a step Kyiv has pushed for since the invasion began.
British Prime Minister Boris Johnson made his second surprise visit to Kyiv since the invasion began, to a warm welcome by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“Many days of this war have proved that Great Britain’s support for Ukraine is firm and resolute. Glad to see our country’s great friend Boris Johnson in Kyiv again,” Zelenskyy wrote on Telegram.