Russia declares final victory at steel plant in Mariupol and fights for more territory in eastern Ukraine
KYIV, Ukraine — With its grip tightened along Ukraine’s southern coast, including full control of the steel plant that held the world’s attention for months, Russia redoubled its assault Friday on the eastern industrial heartland known as the Donbas.
At least a dozen people were killed and scores of homes destroyed in the area of Severodonetsk, the regional governor, Serhiy Haidai, said on social media. The city is the easternmost point of the Donbas still in Ukrainian hands.
The nearby city of Lysychansk also came under sustained fire, according to Ukrainian military officials, who said their troops had repelled a series of attacks in the Donbas over the last 24 hours, destroying 14 armored vehicles and shooting down a Russian drone.
In a separate airstrike, about 120 miles west in the Kharkiv region, a Russian missile destroyed the newly renovated
