The city is seen as strategically important for the control of the Luhansk region, an important goal for Russia.
For weeks, the city has been under attack, but in recent days the clashes have intensified with fierce street fighting.
On Saturday, a chemical plant, one of Europe’s largest, started burning in the fighting after an oil leak.
Hundreds of civilians are said to have taken refuge in the factory’s shelter. It is unclear if it is still burning, but the region’s governor says Ukraine still controls the industrial area in the city where the factory is located, reports Reuters.
New front line
However, the governor admits that Russia controls large parts of the city and that it may be just days before they try to take the whole of Sevierodonetsk.
The neighboring town of Lysychansk is also exposed to heavy shelling. And a high-ranking source in the US military says Washington Post that the entire Luhansk region could be under Russian control within a few weeks. Then a new front line can be created that can last for a longer period of time, the newspaper writes.