The Ukrainian army announced, on Monday, that the Russian forces stormed Severodonetsk and forced the Ukrainian forces out of the city center.

The General Staff of the Ukrainian Armed Forces stated that hostilities were continuing, with Russia achieving "partial success" in Severodonetsk .

Earlier, Russian forces blew up a bridge linking the war-torn Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk to another city across the river, cutting off a possible evacuation route for civilians, according to local officials.

Severodonetsk became the focus of the battle for control of the Donbass industrial region in the east, consisting of Lugansk and Donetsk.

Parts of the city were devastated, during some of the fiercest fighting since the start of the Russian military operation in Ukraine on February 24.

Serhiy Gaidai, governor of Lugansk, reported that street-to-street fighting is still going on between Ukrainian and Russian forces in Severodonetsk.

Russian forces have taken control of most of the city, but Ukrainian forces still control an industrial area and a chemical factory where hundreds of civilians are sheltering.

Gaidai said the Russians had destroyed a bridge over the Seversky Donets River linking the city of Severodonetsk and its twin, Lysichansk, on the other side of the river.