Fighting rages in fierce battle for Ukraine's east

It was not clear which side held the upper hand, and "the situation changed from hour to hour," Oleksandr Stryuk (head of administration in Sievierodonetsk), said on television.

As the Kremlin continues to wage war on the Donbas, which includes Luhansk as well as Donetsk, the city is now the main target.

"In the city there is fierce street fighting continuing," President Volodymyr Zilenskiy stated in Monday's nightly video address. "The Russian army is trying deploy additional forces towards Donbas."

Serhiy Gaidai, the governor of the province, said Monday that the situation was worsening after Ukrainian defenders had forced back the Russians over weekend when they appeared close to winning.

According to the Ukrainian military, two civilians were killed by Russian shelling in Donetsk-Luhansk areas on Monday. Russian forces also fired on more than 20 communities.

Reuters was unable to independently verify battlefield reports. Russia denies that it targeted civilians during the conflict.

Pavlo Kyrylenko, Donetsk's regional governor, stated on television that "we are offering people the opportunity to evacuate."

"We had more than 100 people evacuated from Sloviansk since last week. There are still 24,000 people. Even though it's late, people are beginning to realize that it is time for them to move.

Russia claims it has been pushed back by Kharkiv and Kyiv during the early stages of the war. It is now on a mission "liberate" Donbas, which is being held partly by separatists from 2014. Russia is also engaged in a special military operation to disarm and "denazify its neighbor."

Allies and Ukraine call this a pretext for war that has claimed thousands of lives, destroyed cities, and forced millions to flee.

Zelenskiy thanked Britain to provide multiple-launch rocket systems capable of striking targets up to 80km (50 miles away), providing more precise and long-range firepower to reach Russian artillery battery, which is crucial to Moscow's battle plans.

He said: "I am grateful for Prime Minister Boris Johnson's complete understanding of our needs and his readiness to provide Ukraine exactly the weapons it so desperately needs to protect our people's lives."

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stated that Moscow would react to Western long-range weapons deliveries by pushing Ukrainian forces further back than Russia's border.

Vladimir Putin declared Sunday that Russia would strike new targets, if the West provided longer-range missiles. On the same day, Russian missiles struck Kyiv for a first time in over a month.

According to Ukraine's defense ministry, Russian forces were also moving towards Sloviansk (located about 85km (53 miles) west from Sievierodonetsk).

US Secretary-of-State Antony Blinken said that there are credible reports that Russia is "pilfering Ukraine's grain exports in order to make a profit amid a worsening food crisis.

Blinken claimed that the alleged theft was part broader Russian actions in its war in Ukraine, which have affected Ukraine's ability export its wheat crop.

Since the February 24th invasion, prices for grain, cooking oil, fuel, and fertilizer have shot up.

Nearly a third of the global wheat supply is from Russia and Ukraine. However, Russia is also an exporter of fertilizer and Ukraine exports corn oil and sunflower oil.

Russia's U.N. Russia's U.N. Security Council Meeting. Ambassador Vassily Nebenzia stormed off Monday, as European Council President Charles Michel accused Moscow for fueling a food shortage.

Nebenzia said to Reuters that she couldn't stay because of the "lies that Charles Michel came here for to distribute."

Over Russia's invasion, the West has also placed unprecedented sanctions on Russia.

Russia's foreign ministry announced Monday that it had placed personal sanctions against 61 U.S. officials, including the Treasury and Energy Secretaries, and top defence and media officers.

It claimed that the move was in retaliation to "constantly increasing U.S. sanctions".

Karine Jean-Pierre, White House Press Secretary, did not respond to questions about the move during a briefing.

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