Putin's war in Ukraine has entered its latest grisly phase, as the battered east of the country plays host to a brutal and attritional battle.
Since Vladimir Putin ’s invasion on February 24, thousands are now thought to have lost their lives with death tolls racking up at an alarming rate on both sides.
Speaking to the BBC, the presidential adviser to Ukraine ’s Volodymyr Zelensky, Mykhaylo Podolyak, said that between 100 and 200 soldiers are dying every day.
Putin’s grotesque and nightmarish war has seen the names of many towns and cities become synonyms for horror.
Nowhere more so than Mariupol in the south-east of the country, where troops and civilians came under months of siege, culminating in a brutal last stand in the Azovstal Steel Works.
Now though, a new town has lent its name to the list of places associated with the violence that has happened there - Sievierodonetsk.
Where is Sievierodonetsk?
Sievierodonetsk is situated in the east of Ukraine, in the Luhansk Oblast - one of the two parts of the Donbas region that have become the focus of the war alongside Donetsk.
Nestled to the north-east of the Siverskyi Donets river, it has become of high tactical importance to both sides in the war.
All bridges into the town from neighbouring Lysychansk across the river are now reported to have been rendered unusable, leaving Ukrainian defenders unable to evacuate the remaining civilians still stuck there.
Two bridges are understood to have been destroyed and the third is old and not safe.
70% of the city is now thought to have fallen into Russian control, although Ukrainian troops are still said to be able to get their wounded to hospitals.
It is thought that, at the time of writing, around 10,000 civilians remain in the besieged city, just one-tenth of the pre-war population of 100,000.
Lysychansk on the west bank of the river is one of the few areas in Luhansk not under Russian control, although it is reported to be regularly shelled by Russia.
President Zelensky has voiced his concerns about the battle and has given an address to stress the need for extra weapons to help with the fight there.
He said: "Only a sufficient number of modern artillery will ensure our advantage."
"The battles in Donbas will surely go down in military history as one of the most brutal battles in Europe.
"We draw the attention of our partners on a daily basis to the fact that only a sufficient number of modern artillery for Ukraine will ensure our advantage.
"And end the Russian torture of Ukrainian Donbas," he added.
