Severodonetsk under intense artillery fire, bombing from air, says military administration head

"There is a high intensity of artillery shelling and bombing," he said.

"The assault operations continue in Severodonetsk. The industrial zone and residential buildings near the industrial zone are being shelled. Street battles are underway in the town."

According to Vlasenko, the intensity of hostilities has increased over the past few days.

"There is information that almost all the Russian reserves from the temporarily occupied territories are now on the front lines," the official said.

"So I think the battle for Donbas is now in full swing."

Earlier Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that the fate of the Donbas was largely being decided in the battle for Severodonetsk, while the battle for the town was one of the hardest fought in the whole war.