The governor of Lugansk region, Serhiy Gaidai, accused Russian forces of bombing the factory, which led to the outbreak of the fire.
Jayday did not say whether the fire in the factory, where hundreds of civilians were sheltering, had been put out.
Speaking to Ukrainian television, Gaidai said fighting was raging in Severodonetsk, a small city in Lugansk that has become the focus of Russia’s advance in the east of the country. He had said earlier on Saturday that Russian forces had taken control of most of the city, but that Ukraine had controlled the Azot chemical plant.
The eastern region, known as Donbass, consists of the Donetsk and Lugansk regions where Severodonetsk is located.
According to what he says Head of the Military Administration of the Donetsk region, Pavlo Kirilenko, the Russian strikes have also cut off power supplies in the two largest Ukrainian-controlled Donetsk cities, Kramatorsk and Sloviansk.
Speaking later on national television, he said the move was part of a deliberate strategy to cut off electricity to towns in Donetsk that are still in Ukrainian hands. “The enemy knows where to strike and for what purpose,” he added.
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