Luhansk regional governor, Serhiy Gaidai, told Ukranian television that "the fiercest fighting is in Sievierodonetsk. Fast-moving fighting is happening right now," and that the situation for the Ukranian military had "worsened a bit" overnight.
Ukrainian forces have been trying to hold their ground after saying they had retaken half of the embattled city in Luhansk province, where Russian forces have concentrated their assault on Ukraine's eastern Donbas heartland.
DW correspondent Mathias Bölinger said that "the two armies are meeting each other in the streets. We had heard yesterday about some successes by the Ukrainians but it is very hard to confirm anything except that both armies are inside the city."
One aspect of the fighting that could be confirmed was that Sievierodonetsk is "a center of Ukranian Christian Orthodoxy and we’ve seen a very historic church burning."
Ukraine had said earlier that it regained control over "half" of the city.