Around 15,000 people still remain in Lysychansk as Russian forces try to storm the city, local official says

The head of the military administration in the Luhansk region, Sheryl Heyday, said on Wednesday that Russian forces continued to attempt to attack Reyschansk and continued to shell the eastern Ukrainian city, which is still home to about 15,000 people.

   

"The fighting continues on the outskirts of the city, [the Russians] continue to try to storm," Haidai said in a televised address. "Recently our men have been attacking warehouses, headquarters and barracks of the [Russian Armed Forces]. This makes it possible to interrupt these attacks."

Hayday also said that "approximately 15,000 people" remained in Lysychansk, despite officials' advice in recent weeks to evacuate them from the front lines. Now that the city has been on fire, it has become more difficult for people to leave.

"The density of fires is so high right now. So many that we can only get 30 people on a bus," he said. "That's why we're very careful with it."

"The Bakhmut-Lysychansk highway has not been used for a long time. But we have other routes, we don't name them, and sometimes we have the opportunity to carry something with us," he added. "This is the height of hostilities."