Ukraine claims fight back in key eastern city

 The fighting in the Donetsk region has sparked a major fire at a big wooden monastery near the frontline - the Sviatohirsk Lavra Monastery.
A Ukrainian army officer, Yurii Kochevenko, posted a photo of the burning monastery on Facebook, with the caption: "Another crime of Russian barbarians for whom there is nothing sacred."

The monastery stands on cliffs by the Siverskyi Donets river. Russian troops have tried repeatedly to cross the river, aiming to encircle the Ukrainian army. Sviatohirsk lies just north of Slovyansk, a city held by the Ukrainians.
The monastery dates back centuries and was closed by the Communists in the last century, but was reopened in 1992 after the Soviet Union’s collapse.

"As a result of hostilities, a large-scale fire broke out on the territory of the All Saints Hermitage of the Holy Dormition Sviatohirsk Lavra," the Ukrainian Orthodox Church says on its website. "The flames engulfed the main shrine of the monastery."                                                                                                                                                                                          Severodonetsk has both strategic and symbolic importance.
The Russians have been advancing for a month - making what seemed to be a slow but inexorable march.
But today, Luhansk’s regional governor said the tide was turning.