Images and videos posted on social media showed Russian forces, complete with the tell-tale Z markings on their vehicles

New Delhi: Russian forces have ‘completely destroyed’ the eastern Ukrainian town of Volnovakha following a days-long bombing campaign – but fighting continues for territory there to prevent a Russian encirclement as citizens refuse to accept Moscow’s rule, Daily Mail reported.

Donetsk Governor Pavlo Kyrylenko confirmed the town had been destroyed late on Sunday, saying that Volnovakha “no longer exists” after Moscow’s “war of annihilation” that has left the smouldering remains of the town “in the hands of Russian-backed separatists”.

Images and videos posted on social media showed Russian forces, complete with the tell-tale Z markings on their vehicles, entering the burnt out town that now primarily consists of rubble.

Moscow’s troops continue to use indiscriminate shelling to encircle key Ukrainian cities and are said to be bearing down on Kyiv for an “all-out assault” in the coming days, Daily Mail reported.

Satellite images taken on Saturday morning showed extensive damage to civilian infrastructure and residential buildings throughout the southern Ukrainian city of Mariupol, a private US company said.

Maxar Technologies said fires were seen in the western section of the Black Sea port city and dozens of high-rise apartment buildings had been severely damaged.

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