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Russian troops control about 80% of the fiercely contested eastern city of Sievierodonetsk and have destroyed all three bridges leading out of it but Ukrainians were still trying to evacuate the wounded, a regional official said Tuesday, Associated Press reported.

Serhiy Haidai, governor of the eastern Luhansk region, acknowledged that a mass evacuation of civilians from Sievierodonetsk now was “simply not possible” due to the relentless shelling and fighting. Ukrainian forces have been pushed to the industrial outskirts of the city because of “the scorched earth method and heavy artillery the Russians are using,” he said.

“There is still an opportunity for the evacuation of the wounded, communication with the Ukrainian military and local residents,” he told The Associated Press by telephone, adding that Russian soldiers have not yet completely blocked off the strategic city.

About 12,000 people remain in Sievierodonetsk, from a pre-war population of 100,000. More than 500 civilians are sheltering in the Azot chemical plant, which is being pounded by the Russians, according to Haidai.

In all, 70 civilians were evacuated from the Luhansk region in the last day, the governor said.

A Russian general, meanwhile, said a humanitarian corridor will be opened Wednesday to evacuate civilians from the Azot plant. Col. Gen. Mikhail Mizintsev said evacuees would be taken to the town of Svatovo, 60 kilometers (35 miles) to the north in territory under the control of Russian and separatist forces.

He said the plan was made after Ukraine called for an evacuation corridor leading to territory it controls, according to Associated Press.

Mizintsev, head of the National Defense Management Center, is accused by Ukraine of human rights violations while commanding troops during the long siege of Mariupol, Ukraine’s key port on the Sea of Azov, which has been taken over by the Russians.

Russian forces in the past few weeks have pressed hard to capture Ukraine’s eastern industrial Donbas area, which borders Russia and is made up of the regions of Luhansk and Donetsk.

“The losses, unfortunately, are painful, but we have to hold out,” Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said late Tuesday in his nightly video address. “The more losses the enemy suffers there, the less strength it will have to continue the aggression. Therefore, the Donbas is key to determining who will dominate in the coming weeks.”

As he does almost every day, Zelenskyy pleaded for more and faster deliveries of Western arms, this time specifically asking for anti-missile defense systems. 

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Hanna Malyar said Tuesday the military had only received around 10% of the Western weapons it had requested “to create parity with the Russian army.”

“No matter how much effort Ukraine makes, no matter how professional our army, without the help of Western partners we will not be able to win this war,” Malyar said in a televised news conference, Associated Press reported.

She said Ukraine uses 5,000 to 6,000 artillery rounds a day, while Russia uses 10 times more.

In recent days, Ukrainian officials have spoken of the heavy human cost of the war, with the fierce fighting in the east becoming an artillery battle that has seen Kyiv’s forces outgunned and outnumbered.

Malyar said every day of delay means the loss of lives of more Ukrainian soldiers and civilians. “And therefore, unfortunately, we cannot wait very long, because the situation is very difficult,” she added, according to Associated Press.

Commanding General of the US Army Pacific Charles Flynn has termed his four-day visit to Nepal as terrific.

"I want to express my gratitude to Nepali Chief of Army Staff Gen. Sharma for a terrific visit to Nepal this week," he wrote on Twitter.

“We cherish our decades long defense partnership & look forward to future opportunities for collaboration,” he further said.

General Flynn, who arrived here on a four-day official visit on Thursday, held meetings with President Bidya Devi Bhandari, Prime Minister Deuba and General Sharma, among others, on Friday.

Minister for Education, Science and Technology, Devendra Paudel, has said an arrangement has been made to provide budget to 171 units in the coming fiscal year for the construction of sports infrastructures.

Responding to queries raised by lawmakers over the Appropriation Bill in today's meeting of the House of Representatives, Minister Paudel shared a proposal has been presented to provide budget to 171 local units in the coming fiscal year by giving continuity to the sports infrastructures as per the government's policy of constructing one sports infrastructure in one local-level.

He further said concept of sports insurance has been developed in the coming fiscal year for the protection and development of players as well as arrangement of budget has been made to make the medical centre systematic in order to carry out treatment of injured players.

Arrangement of budget on various issues including player life insurance, player and training health insurance, player incentive award and allowance to Olympic players has been made this year to encourage players.

Minister Paudel on the behalf of the Minister for Youth and Sports, Maheshwor Jung Gahatraj, responded the queries of lawmakers on the issues related to Youth and Sports as Minister Gahatraj is in foreign trip.

On the occasion, the Education Minister opined that one school, one sports would be developed from school level for the development of sports sector.

The ninth meeting of the CPN-UML Secretariat has concluded that the party did not get satisfactory results in the key posts in the recently held local level elections.

A secretariat meeting of the UML came up with the conclusion while deciding to focus on a new course after a thorough review on the election results.

Sharing the information about the meeting held at the Party Headquarters in Chyasal today, Deputy General Secretary Pradeep Kumar Gyawali said results of the local level elections should be accepted after participating in the election since the sovereign franchise of citizens was exercised in the elections.

He shared that the meeting discussed reasons behind the poor results in the posts of mayor and chairperson, adding that a fact had been established that the CPN-UML had emerged as the largest party with 34 per cent of popular votes.

The meeting decided that the concerned committees would take action against those involved in betraying the party's candidates, the UML leader mentioned.

Leader Gyawali also stated that no party leader should engage in blame game against the party's main leadership.

The meeting also decided to organise orientation programme for the newly-elected people's representatives from the party on June 16 and 17 in Kathmandu.

Similarly, the meeting also formed some departments of the party.