Ukraine says it still controls Sievierodonetsk plant sheltering hundreds

Region's governor said Ukraine remained in control of an industrial area and chemical plant

Bitter fighting raged in Sievierodonetsk, but the region's governor said Ukraine remained in control of an industrial area and chemical plant in the eastern city where hundreds of civilians are sheltering from incessant Russian shelling, Qazet.az reports.

A Russia-backed separatist group on Saturday claimed 300 to 400 Ukrainian fighters were also trapped at the Azot plant.

Sievierodonetsk has become epicentre of the battle in eastern Ukraine for control over the industrialised Donbas region, made up of the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces. Weeks of fighting has pulverised parts of the city and has been some of the bloodiest since Moscow began its invasion on Feb. 24.

After being forced to scale back its initial campaign goals, including withdrawing troops that had been menacing Kyiv, Moscow has turned to expanding control in the Donbas, where pro-Russian separatists have held a swath of territory since 2014.

Putin calls the invasion a "special military operation" to disarm and "denazify" Ukraine. Kyiv and its allies call it an unprovoked war of aggression to capture territory.

Ukraine has said some 800 people were hiding in bomb shelters under the plant, including employees and residents of Sievierodonetsk.

Rodion Miroshnik, a Russian-backed representative of the self-proclaimed Luhansk People's Republic, said Ukrainian forces may be holding several hundred civilians "hostage".

Ukraine's armed forces said they had pushed back a Russian attack on three small towns northwest of Sloviansk in Donetsk province, while fighting continued in a fourth settlement in the area, as well as to the east of the city.