The Russian army is “deploying all its reserves” to capture Severodonetsk in the east of the Luhansk region, said the head of the OVA, Sergei Gaidai.

“They used to be able to capture most of the city, but now our military has rejected them,” he said on the air of the telethon, claiming that the Russians are suffering huge losses..

Among other things, the Chechen forces, who seemed to think that the battle was won, entered the city. The Russians are trying to demolish bridges “so that we cannot provide reinforcements to our guys in Severodonetsk, defending the Luhansk region. They are really afraid that the success of our defenders will develop, and this is a very likely option if ammunition, weapons and reinforcements are provided in time.. That's the first thing they're afraid of."

Gaidai said earlier on Saturday that Ukraine now controls about half of Severodonetsk.. Difficult humanitarian situation in the region.

“We can neither evacuate people nor bring humanitarian aid, for example, to Severodonetsk. The only places where we can deliver humanitarian supplies - food, medicine - are Lisichansk and Grodno, which is south of Severodonetsk.

" We may even be evacuating people, but quietly, without publicity, because the Russian army is shooting at evacuation buses.

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On this side, the head of the Severodonetsk military administration Oleksandr Stryuk said late on Saturday that street fighting continues in the city, and "

Stryuk noted that the residential areas of the city are now divided in half.

" The situation is quite tense, but there is hope and confidence in our armed forces that everything will work out. The city remains Ukrainian,"

According to him, before the assault by Russian troops, there were about 13,000 people in the city, but some of them were “forcibly taken to the occupied territory”.