The battle for two key cities in eastern Ukraine has reached what a local official is calling a fierce climax.
Kiev says Moscow is intent on destroying the entire region with massive air and artillery attacks. The most critcal front is around the twin cities of Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk, but Kharkiv in the north and Mykolaiv in the south are also being attacked. The Luhansk Governor Serhiy Haidai says Russian forces have taken two more villages around Sievierodonetsk. Hundreds of civilians are still trapped in a chemical plant in Sievierodonetsk while Kiev and Moscow dispute who controls the bombed-out city.
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