Heavy fighting as Russia advances into Sievierodonetsk

KYIV, May 30 Reuters- Russian troops have entered the outskirts of the Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk, according to the regional governor, who described fierce fighting on Monday over the ruins of a city that has become the focus of Moscow’s offensive.  

Incessant shelling has left Ukrainian forces defending ruins in Sievierodonetsk, Reuters reported. Luhansk region governor Serhiy Gaidai said Russian troops had advanced into the city’s southeastern and northeastern fringes.  
With temperatures rising, there was a “terrible smell of death” on the outskirts of the city, he said.  

Gaidai later said efforts to evacuate civilians in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine were suspended on Monday after an armoured transport was hit by shrapnel from a Russian shell, killing a French journalist. The shrapnel had pierced the vehicle’s armour, killing the accredited French journalist travelling inside. The French foreign ministry said it was checking the report of the journalist’s death.