Sievierodonetsk cut off as Russians destroy last bridge linking city to Ukrainian-held areas

A Ukrainian serviceman walks past a gypsum manufacturing plant destroyed in a Russian bombing in Bakhmut, eastern Ukraine. Credit: AP

More than 10,000 people in the eastern city of Sievierodonetsk are now stranded after Russian forces destroyed the last bridge linking it to a Ukrainian-held area across the river, a Ukrainian official said.

Fears grew the city could become the "next Mariupol" as efforts to evacuate remaining civilians had been halted after Russian troops destroyed two of the three bridges connecting Sievierodonetsk and Lysychansk, the second city in Luhansk not yet overrun by Moscow.

Mariupol was surrounded for weeks by Russian forces with hundreds of civilians and badly wounded Ukrainian soldiers trapped in the Azovstal steelworks.

Fierce street fighting continued on Monday in Sievierodonetsk. Russian troops were "trying to gain a foothold in the central part of the city", the Ukrainian military said on Tuesday 

Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai estimated the Russians controlled up to 80% of the city.

A woman takes shelter in a bunker during Russian attacks in Sievierodonetsk, Luhansk. Credit: AP
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"Ukrainian forces are fighting the enemy “block by block, street by street, house by house with a varying degree of success,” he told The AP news agency.

Eduard Basurin, an official of the Russia-backed separatists in Donetsk, claimed Sievierodonetsk has been blocked off and Ukrainian fighters have no choice but to surrender.

Haidai dismissed that as “a lie.”

“There is no threat of our troops being encircled in the Luhansk region,” he said.

Lysychansk remains under Ukrainian control but is regularly shelled by Russian forces. Haidai said shelling on Sunday had killed three civilians in the city, including a six-year-old boy.

Russia-backed separatists in the Donetsk region said the Ukrainian forces shelled a market in the city of Donetsk, killing three civilians and injuring 18 more on Monday. It was the fiercest shelling by Ukrainian forces since 2015, according to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.

The head of the Russian-backed government in Donetsk, Denis Pushilin said on his Telegram channel that more forces were being called in to help amid heavy shelling.

A woman and child peer out of the window of a bus as they leave Sievierodonetsk, the Luhansk region, in eastern Ukraine. Credit: AP
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Ukraine repeated its calls for heavy weapons from the West to help defend Sievierodonetsk, which Kyiv said could hold the key to the battle for the eastern Donbas region.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the battle for the provinces of Luhansk and Donetsk claimed by Russian separatists, would go down as one of the most brutal in European history.

"For us, the price of this battle is very high. It is just scary," he said.

"We draw the attention of our partners daily to the fact that only a sufficient number of modern artillery for Ukraine will ensure our advantage."

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