Tehran (The Times Groupe)- Russian troops have destroyed a bridge connecting the embattled Ukrainian city of Sievierodonetsk with another city across the river, cutting off a possible evacuation route for civilians, local officials said on Sunday.
The eastern Ukrainian region of Donbas has become the focus of the battle for control of Sievierodonetsk. There have been some of the bloodiest battles since the Kremlin launched its invasion on Feb. 24.
Serhiy Gaidai, governor of Luhansk province, said Ukrainian and Russian forces were still fighting street-by-street there on Sunday.
Russian forces have seized most of the city, but Ukrainian troops have taken control of an industrial area and chemical plant where hundreds of civilians are sheltering.
According to Gaidai, the Russians destroyed the bridge over the Siverskyi Donets River connecting Sievierodonetsk with its twin city of Lysychansk.
So, only one of the three bridges remains, which reduces the number of routes available for evacuating civilians or withdrawing Ukrainian troops.
Russian shelling in Lysychansk itself killed one woman and destroyed four houses and a shopping centre, Gaidai said.
About a third of the city remains under the control of Ukrainian forces, and about two-thirds is under Russian control, according to the head of the Sievierodonetsk administration.
“Our forces are holding the defensive line well,” Oleksandr Stryuk said on national television. Ukrainian river