Zelensky has repeatedly urged the west to deliver heavy weapons to Ukraine as quickly as possible. He regretted what he called, "the restrained behaviour of some leaders" which, he said, had "slowed down arms supplies very much". How long that took depended "very much" on international support, and "the personalities of the leaders of European states". Zelenksy, in comments to Danish journalists Tuesday, insisted that the war could only end once Ukrainians were the only ones left on its territory. Capturing Severodonetsk would open the road to Sloviansk and another major city, Kramatorsk, in Moscow's push to conquer Donbas, a mainly Russian-speaking region partly held by pro-Kremlin separatists since 2014. With Russia turning the screw on the city, Ukrainian forces have two choices: "to surrender or die", said Eduard Basurin, a representative for pro-Russian separatists. 'Surrender or die' - Lugansk regional governor Sergiy Gaiday said Monday Ukraine's forces had been pushed back from Severodonetsk's centre with the Russians controlling 70 to 80 percent of the city in their attempt to "encircle it". It was impossible to "overstate the seriousness of the current situation for civilians trapped in Severodonetsk", he said, calling on "all parties. "Remaining civilians in Severodonetsk are almost entirely cut off from aid supplies after the destruction of the last bridge into the city," Jan Egeland, secretary general of the Norwegian Refugee Council said in a statement. The Russian army said it would establish a humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians from the plant to the separatist-controlled Lugansk region on Wednesday. Around 500 civilians were taking shelter under "heavy fire" in the Azot chemical plant in Severodonetsk, Stryuk said. Severodonetsk was not isolated, the head of the city's administration, Oleksandr Stryuk, told Ukrainian television, but communication was "complicated" with the situation on the ground changing every hour. Moscow has for week targeted the twin cities as the last areas in the Lugansk region of the Donbas still under Ukrainian control. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky meanwhile once again appealed for heavy weapons from the West, criticising the "restrained behaviour" of some European leaders.
Russian forces have stepped up efforts to cut off the Ukrainian troops still in the industrial hub, blowing up three bridges which connect it to Lysychansk on the other side of a river. Russia said Tuesday it would establish a humanitarian corridor to evacuate civilians from a chemical plant in Severodonetsk, as the two sides battled for control of the key city in Ukraine's eastern Donbas region.
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