June 21, 2022 Russia-Ukraine news

Ukrainian troops are resisting a heavy Russian offensive in and around the city of Severodonetsk in the Luhansk region, despite continued shelling from several directions, according to the Ukrainian military. 

The General Staff said on Tuesday that "shelling of units of our troops from artillery of various calibers continues."  

Russia aiming for full control: The Russians were also carrying out airstrikes in several areas south of Severodonesk, and "the enemy does not stop the assault in order to establish full control over the city," the General Staff said.

Location of fighting: Ukrainian resistance in Severodonetsk is mainly from the large Azot chemical plant on the western edge of the city, where several hundred civilians are also sheltering. 

Russian reports have suggested that resistance is ebbing at the Azot plant. CNN cannot independently verify the situation in the area. 

Heavy shelling: Hayday said on Ukrainian television that Russian forces had tried to carry out offensive operations on Monday under cover of heavy shelling.

Civilians at Azot: Hayday said there are about 568 people at Azot, "who flatly refused to evacuate."

In neighboring Lysychansk: A short distance to the south, the Ukrainian General Staff said, "Our soldiers are successfully resisting the assaults in the areas of Syrotyne and Bila Hora," two settlements near Lysychansk.

The Russians are trying to close in on Lysychansk and cut off remaining Ukrainian forces in Severodonetsk to complete the seizure of Luhansk.

Hayday said Tuesday that Lysychansk was being heavily shelled. "More than 10 high-rise buildings, private houses and a police station building were destroyed," he said.

It's been nearly two months since Russian forces began their assault on the city of Severodonetsk. But despite overwhelming firepower, they still can't dislodge determined Ukrainian resistance — nor cut the supply lines that provide the city's remaining defenders with a drip-feed of weapons and ammunition.

The fierce Ukrainian defense of Severodonetsk, despite heavy losses, has forced the Russians to concentrate firepower on a relatively small area and held up their efforts to seize the 10% of Luhansk region they still do not control.

Russian President Vladimir Putin declared the seizure of Ukraine's eastern Luhansk and Donetsk regions as one of the objectives of Moscow's special military operation that began in February. For now, that operation is largely stalled; a large part of Donetsk remains beyond the Russians' reach.

Russian forces are making modest gains — the Russian Defense Ministry said Sunday that the town of Metelkino just southeast of Severodonetsk had been taken. But the Russians' goal of encircling the Ukrainian troops defending the twin cities of Lysychansk and Severodonetsk still appears some way off.

In a campaign lacking agility and imagination, the Russians have resorted to one principal tactic: overwhelming indirect fire against any and all Ukrainian positions, regardless of the collateral destruction.

The aim is to leave nothing standing that can be defended. The use of troops on the ground to take and hold urban areas has been less frequent and less successful.

Read the full analysis here.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said in his nightly address on Monday that Ukraine is moving along the path to becoming part of the European Union.

The President previously said Ukraine should expect "greater hostile activity" from Russia as the EU considers this week whether the country should be formally considered for candidate status. Leaders of the EU's 27 member states are meeting to discuss the process.

At least three people were killed on Monday during Russia’s intensified shelling of Ukraine’s northeastern Kharkiv region, according to the head of the region's administration.

Synehubov said three people died in the shelling — a 65-year-old woman in Kutuzivka, a 61-year-old woman and a 49-year-old man in Balaklia. 

On the ground: A CNN team in Kharkiv heard several explosions across the city over the past 48 hours, noting a slight increase in frequency. Air raid sirens went off several times during the day on Monday.

Russians using Multiple Launch Rocket Systems (MLRS) and other missiles have struck targets in Kharkiv, according to Synehubov.

Synehubov also said about 700,000 people now live in the city of Kharkiv, about half of the population prior to February's invasion.

Regarding a “new Russian offensive on Kharkiv” Synehubov said: “We are constantly recording the accumulation and movement of troops on the border with our region and are monitoring the situation.”

Some context: Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Sunday said Ukraine should expect “greater hostile activity” from Russia as the European Union considers whether the country should formally be considered for candidate status. Leaders of the EU’s 27 member states are meeting this week to discuss this.

Bunny Drueke, the mother of one of the Americans captured in Ukraine, said she is putting her trust in the US State Department to bring the two men back home.

Who are the Americans? US citizens Alexander John-Robert Drueke, 39, from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, 27, from Hartselle, Alabama, were taken into detention by Russian-backed separatists in Donetsk after being captured last week, according to Russian state media. They went missing on June 9 during a battle north of Kharkiv.

Speaking to CNN's Jake Tapper on Monday, Bunny said she had watched some of the videos that have appeared in Russian media of her son. CNN has chosen not to broadcast the videos because they show him speaking under duress.

Bunny said US officials told her they are "working behind the scenes" and arranging for "Alex and Andy to come home eventually."

"They're still working at verifying where they are and who has them," she said.

Asked what message she would send to her son, Bunny said: "I would like to tell Alex that I'm taking good care of his dog and that I'm being brave and doing exactly what he asked me to do. And that I love him with all of my heart."

Russian forces attacking the key city of Severodonetsk, in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine, have enough reserved to launch a large-scale offensive, the head of the region's military, Serhiy Hayday, said.

Here are the latest developments on Russia's war in Ukraine:

The daughter of Russian opposition leader Alexey Navalny says the maximum high-security prison where he was recently moved to is "one of the most dangerous" in Russia with conditions akin to "psychological torture."

Dasha Navalnaya spoke to CNN's Jim Sciutto on Monday after her father was transferred from the penal colony where he was serving his term.

Some background: In March, a Moscow court sentenced Navalny to a further nine years in a maximum-security prison. He was convicted on fraud charges over allegations that he stole from his Anti-Corruption Foundation. Navalny had spent several months in Berlin, Germany in 2020 recovering from poisoning with nerve agent Novichok — an attack he blames on Russian security services and on Russian President Vladimir Putin himself.

"No one notified the attorneys or the family about his transfer. And it, of course, is very concerning because he is one-on-one with the same people in government that tried to kill him in 2020," Navalnaya said.

Navalnaya said her father is being kept isolated so he cannot communicate with anyone.

Asked whether she believes the trials are for show, Navalnaya said, "Yes, absolutely. Putin doesn't want him out."

"Putin doesn't want him speaking. Putin doesn't want everyone knowing his government is corrupt. And, you know, the most important thing that we like to communicate is that no one should associate Putin with Russia because Putin — he doesn't represent Russia and Russia is not Putin."

Russian President Vladimir Putin's spokesperson Dmitry Peskov said the Geneva Conventions for the protection of prisoners of war do not apply to two Americans captured in Ukraine, accusing them of being "involved in illegal activities."

Peskov made the comments during an exclusive interview with NBC News on Monday night. 

Who are the Americans? US citizens Alexander John-Robert Drueke, 39, from Tuscaloosa, Alabama, and Andy Tai Ngoc Huynh, 27, from Hartselle, Alabama, were taken into detention by Russian-backed separatists in Donetsk after being captured last week, according to Russian state media. They went missing on June 9 during a battle north of Kharkiv.

Peskov called Drueke and Huynh "soldiers of fortune."

Peskov wouldn't clarify whether the pair were being held by Russian or Donetsk authorities.

"So they’re being held in a new place, a new place to ensure that the investigation of their crimes is being completed," he said. 

Peskov said their case would be "investigated in due course" but said "Geneva Conventions cannot be applied for soldiers of fortune."

"They are in not in the Ukrainian Army. They are not subject to Geneva Convention," he said. 

Some context: Geneva Convention protections include that prisoners of war "must at all times be humanely treated."

"Any unlawful act or omission by the Detaining Power causing death or seriously endangering the health of a prisoner of war in its custody is prohibited, and will be regarded as a serious breach of the present Convention," Article 13 of the convention states.

Russian forces attacking the key city of Severodonetsk, in the Luhansk region of eastern Ukraine, have enough reserved to launch a large-scale offensive, the head of the region's military, Serhiy Hayday, said.

Speaking on Monday evening, Hayday said dozens of pieces of Russian heavy military equipment had been brought into the region and were already deployed on the battlefield.

In the city itself, Hayday said fighting is underway in the industrial area, but “most of the city is under control [of Russian army]. Now the Ukrainian military controls only the industrial zone and the territory of the Azot plant.”

Hayday also provided an update on the fighting in the neighboring city of Lysychansk. He said there was fighting along the highway between Lysychansk and Bakhmut and that all the towns in that area are being shelled. Lysychansk “had been shelled almost all day” on Monday, he added.