Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has said the battle for Severodonetsk may decide the outcome of the east of Ukraine. He described the fierce fighting seen in the strategically important Donbas city as "probably one of the most difficult throughout this war."
The Donbas region refers to the Donetsk and Luhansk provinces in the easternmost part of Ukraine. It is a major strategic, political and economic target for the Kremlin.
The United Nations has warned the ripple effects caused by Russia's invasion of Ukraine have generated a severe cost-of-living crisis that no country or community can escape.
U.N. trade chief Rebeca Grynspan says the current food crisis "may rapidly turn into a food catastrophe of global proportions in 2023."