"The town is basically being destroyed ruthlessly block by block," Oleksandr Striuk advised the Related Press on Tuesday.
He mentioned heavy avenue combating continued and artillery bombardments threatened the lives of the estimated 13,000 civilians nonetheless sheltering within the ruined metropolis that after was dwelling to greater than 100,000.
It is inconceivable to trace civilian casualties amid the round the clock shelling, mentioned the mayor, who believes that greater than 1500 residents have died of varied causes since Russia's invasion of Ukraine in late February. Evacuation efforts from Sievierodonetsk have been halted due to shelling.
"Civilians are dying from direct strikes, from fragmentation wounds and below the rubble of destroyed buildings, since a lot of the inhabitants are hiding in basements and shelters," Striuk mentioned.
Electrical energy to the town has been minimize off and folks want water, meals and drugs, the mayor mentioned.
"There are meals provides for a number of extra days, however the problem is easy methods to distribute them," he mentioned.
Sievierodonetsk is necessary to Russian efforts to seize the Donbas earlier than extra Western arms arrive to bolster Ukraine's defence.
Moscow-backed separatists already held territory within the area and have been combating Ukrainian troops for eight years.
Navy analysts described the battle for Sievierodonetsk as a part of a race in opposition to time for the Kremlin.
The town which is 145 kilometres south of the Russian border, is in an space that's the final pocket of Ukrainian authorities management within the Luhansk area.
In his nightly video handle, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy mentioned the state of affairs within the Donbas stays "extraordinarily tough" as Russia has put its military's "most fight energy" there.
At the least three folks have been killed and 6 extra wounded in a single day in a Russian missile strike on the town of Sloviansk, west of Sievierodonetsk, Donetsk regional governor Pavlo Kyrylenko mentioned in a Fb submit on Tuesday morning.
A college was amongst a number of buildings broken. A crater marked the highway between two residence buildings closely pockmarked by shrapnel.
Blood smeared the ground and stairwell of 1 constructing.
Resident Olena Voytenko, 59, mentioned she knew one of many folks killed, a person whose residence caught hearth within the blast. She believes he burned to loss of life.
One other resident, Mikhaylo Samoluk, mentioned the strike occurred about 1.30am.
Lethal hazard dealing with Ukrainians returning to properties
"I used to be on my couch and abruptly my couch simply jumped within the air," he mentioned.
In neighbouring Luhansk, two folks have been killed and 4 have been wounded by shelling, Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai mentioned Tuesday on Telegram. Haidai did not specify when or the place the assault occurred.