Ukrainians battle Russian forces in the heart of the key eastern city of Sievierodonetsk.

Ukrainian troops pushed Russian soldiers back several blocks in street battles in the city of Sievierodonetsk, a regional official said Thursday, indicating that fighting continued even as Russia renewed its effort to surround Ukrainian soldiers in the city.

The fighting in Sievierdonetsk has become a focus of the war as a creeping Russian advance in eastern Ukraine, enabled by massive artillery bombardments, has brought Russian soldiers close to cutting the last remaining supply line to the Ukrainian soldiers inside the city. An encirclement and siege have loomed as a risk for weeks. Read more

@nytimes