Oleksandr Stryuk, mayor of Severodonetsk, the main city in eastern Ukraine, announced Saturday that Ukrainian forces are trying to "restore complete control" of the city.
In a televised interview broadcast on the official regional Telegram account, Stryuk said that the Russian forces "have achieved some successes" and "managed to enter the city and seize a large part (of it) and divide it into two."
"But our soldiers managed to redeploy and build a defensive line. Currently, we are doing everything possible to restore complete control of Ukraine" over the city, he added.
The Russian Defense Ministry confirmed earlier that Ukrainian military units were withdrawing from Severodonetsk, after they "incurred significant losses during the battles" towards the neighboring city of Lyschansk.
"The situation is very difficult. We are doing everything we can to repel the enemy from the city. Street battles continue with regular artillery bombardment," Stryuk explained.
"Our armed forces are confident that they will succeed" in retaking the city, he added.
For its part, the Ukrainian Army Staff said, on Sunday night, that "the battles are continuing for complete control of Severodonetsk," without further details.
The declared goal of the Russian forces is to control the entire Donbass basin, which includes the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, after it was partially seized by pro-Moscow separatists in 2014.
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