Ukrainian official warns of ‘catastrophe’ in captured city

Ukrainian soldiers run after a strike hit a residential area in Kramatorsk, Donetsk region, eastern Ukraine (Nariman El-Mofty/AP)

A Ukrainian regional official has warned of deteriorating living conditions in a city captured by Russian forces two weeks ago, saying Sievierodonetsk is without water, power or a working sewage system while the bodies of the dead decompose in hot apartment buildings.

Governor Serhiy Haidai said the Russians are unleashing indiscriminate artillery barrages as they try to secure their gains in eastern Ukraine’s Luhansk province.