Chemical plant where civilians are hiding may be new Azovstal

A CHEMICAL plant in a key Donbas city sheltering hundreds of civilians including children from Russian bombardment could turn into another Azovstal, a Ukrainian MP has warned.

Moscow was yesterday on the brink of capturing Severodonetsk, the largest city in the Luhansk region not under its control, after pounding the area with artillery shells for weeks.

After 100 days of war, the Ministry of Defence said yesterday that the Russians had “failed to achieve their initial objectives” to seize Kyiv but were now seeing “tactical success” in the east of Ukraine.

Russia now controls 90 per cent of Luhansk – one half of the Donbas – and despite Ukrainian resistance it was likely to have “complete control in the next two weeks”, the ministry added.

Its efforts have recently been focused on Severodonetsk in recent weeks, where fierce fighting has prompted as many as 800 people, a mix of civilians and soldiers, to hide in bomb shelters in the Azot plant, which normally produces nitrogen-based fertilisers.

“There are fears that Severodonetsk may have its own Azovstal. About 800 people are hiding in Soviet-era bomb

shelters under the Azot chemical plant in the city,” Kira Rudik, a Ukrainian MP and leader of the Golos party, tweeted.

Serhiy Haidai, the Luhansk governor said: “There are locals there, who were asked to leave the city but refused. Also children, though not many.” The Azovstal steelworks in Mariupol became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance against Russian aggression after a contingent of around 2,000 soldiers turned it into a fortress and resisted Russian attacks for weeks. Several hundred civilians had also hidden in the steel plant.

After running low on food, water and ammunition they all surrendered to Russian forces last month.

However, the Azot chemical plant is smaller than Azovstal and does not have a warren of tunnels. It also houses highly explosive chemicals that could be poisonous if hit by shells.

Capturing Severodonetsk would allow Putin to present the conquest of Luhansk as a military victory after a string of failures.

Volodomyr Zelensky, Ukraine’s president, promised yesterday that “victory will be ours,” in a video address similar to one he delivered at the onset of the war outside government buildings in Kyiv.