Fighting on the outskirts of last Ukrainian city in Luhansk

Fight between Russian and Ukrainian forces has reached outskirts of Sievierodonetsk, the last city in Luhansk under Ukrainian control. Much of the city has been reduced to ruins but defence by Ukrainian forces has slowed Russian campaign in the Donbas region.

Russia invaded Ukraine on February 24. After its initial attempts to seize Ukrainian capital Kyiv failed, Russia has focussed its firepower in Donbas region.

Governor of Luhansk Serhiy Gaidai was quoted by Reuters as saying that Russian troops had advanced into Sievierodonetsk's southeastern and northeastern fringes.

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"They use the same tactics over and over again. They shell for several hours - for three, four, five hours - in a row and then attack," Gaidai said. "Those who attack die. Then shelling and attack follow again, and so on until they break through somewhere."

He said that with temperatures rising, there was a "terrible smell of death" on the city outskirts.

But Ukrainian forces had driven the Russians out of the village of Toshkivka to the south, he said, potentially frustrating Moscow's push to encircle the area.

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Meanwhile, countries of the European Union (EU) have not yet been able to agree on a ban on Russian oil imports.

The EU has rolled out five packages of sanctions against Russia since its troops invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24 but an agreement on oil sanctions has proved elusive because so many countries depend on Russian crude.

(With inputs from agencies)

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