Live updates: Russia’s war in Ukraine

Ukrainian military officials said the Russians have intensified their efforts to destroy Ukrainian defenses in the Luhansk region, bringing in 15 helicopters to bolster the offensive.

The Ukrainian defenses around the cities of Severodonetsk and Lysichansk are still under heavy pressure from artillery shelling and air attacks, which have also increased in villages to the south, such as Vrobivka.

Why this area: Russian forces are trying to break through the Ukrainian lines in this area and complete the capture of Luhansk. They control about 90% of the area, according to most estimates.

Serhiy Heidi, head of the Luhansk region’s military administration, said four civilians were killed in the latest fighting and a nitrogen plant in Severodonetsk was bombed again.

Heidi said the city withstood 15 artillery attacks on Tuesday.

New attacks in Donetsk: The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine also approved new attacks by Russian forces on Sloviansk in the Donetsk region.

For weeks, Russian forces have been trying to push south to complete control of Donetsk. The General Staff said that Russian forces were trying to encircle Ukrainian units around the town of Lyman and were trying to take full control of the nearby settlement of Drubyshev.

If they succeed, the Ukrainian defenses at Lyman will be vulnerable to attack from three directions. The area witnessed heavy artillery shelling on Tuesday.

Far North: In Kharkiv, the General Staff said the Russians continued to bombard villages north of the city to disrupt the Ukrainian counter-offensive, which moved Ukrainian forces to the Russian border in several places.