Russian troops have driven the Ukrainian army from the centre after storming Severodonetsk, the general staff of the Ukrainian army said. Severdonetsk has been at the centre of the war in Ukraine for weeks.

“Russian troops shelled the city centre with artillery and drove out the last Ukrainian soldiers,” the general staff in Kyiv said. He also said that despite the setback, the Ukrainian army, which controls about a third of the city, is still fighting hard.

The news came hours after President Volodymyr Zelensky said the strategically located city is being fought over “literally every meter”. Severodonetsk and Lischansk are the only places in the Luhansk region that have not yet fallen completely into Russian hands.

Zelensky recently said the battle for Severodonetsk will determine the future of the Donbas, which consists of the Luhansk and Donetsk provinces.