Russia struck 'nitric acid tank' in Ukraine's Severodonetsk: Governor

Russia struck a nitric acid tank at a chemical plant in Severodonetsk, a city in Ukraine's Luhansk region, said local governor. Sergiy Gaiday, the governor urged people to stay inside shelters.

Nitric acid is dangerous if inhaled, swallowed or even if it comes in contact with the skin.

The governor said on Telegram that air strike by Russian forces "hit a tank with nitric acid at a chemical plant".

"Do not come out of shelters!" Gaiday said. 

Severodonetsk has seen fierce battle between Russian and Ukrainian forces.

The governor has urged people in the city to "prepare protective face masks impregnated with soda solution". 

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said Russia's air strike at a chemical plant in Severodonetsk was "just crazy".

But it is "no longer surprising that for the Russian military, for Russian commanders, for Russian soldiers, any madness is absolutely acceptable", Zelensky said in an evening video address on Telegram.

AFP quoted pro-Moscow separatists as saying that the tank had "exploded" on territory controlled by Ukrainian forces. 

"At the Azot chemical plant, a container with chemicals was blown up. Preliminarily, it is nitric acid," Rodion Mironchik, a representative of the self-proclaimed Lugansk People's Republic, said on Telegram.  

(With inputs from agencies)

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