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The besieged city of Sievierodonetsk faced heavy artillery and rocket fire again as Russian forces attacked areas around it, the Ukrainian military said.
The military’s general staff acknowledged its forces had suffered a setback in the settlement of Metolkine, just south-east of Sievierodonetsk, as the battle for the industrial city in eastern Ukraine continued.
“As a result of artillery fire and an assault, the enemy has partial success in the village of Metolkine, trying to gain a foothold,” it said in a Facebook post late on Saturday.
Serhiy Gaidai, the Ukrainian-appointed governor of Luhansk, referred in a separate online post to “tough battles” in Metolkine, Reuters reported.
Russia’s Tass news agency, citing a source working for Russian-backed separatists, said many Ukrainian fighters had surrendered in Metolkine.
