Ukrainian army to retreat from battered city to avoid encirclement

The sculpture of prominent Italian poet Dante Alighieri is protected by sandbags, on Vladimir’s Hill in Kyiv, Ukraine (Nariman El-Mofty/AP)

After weeks of ferocious fighting, Ukrainian forces will retreat from a besieged city in the country’s east to avoid encirclement, a regional governor said.

The city of Sievierodonetsk, the administrative centre of the Luhansk region, has faced relentless Russian bombardment.