Russian forces have advanced towards the center of Severodonetsk, a city in eastern Ukraine, shelled for weeks and where street fighting is now taking place, the governor of the region announced on Monday.

“The Russians are advancing towards the middle of Severodonetsk. The fighting is continuing, the situation is very difficult,” Sergei Gaïdaï, head of the Lugansk region, said on Telegram.

According to him, two people were injured on Monday when their car was targeted, and are now "safe". Three doctors are missing, according to the same source.

"Severodonetsk's critical infrastructure is destroyed, 60% of the housing stock cannot be restored," Gaïdaï continued.

He added that the road linking Severodonetsk to the twin town of Lyssychansk and then to that of Bakhmout further south was too "dangerous" to allow the evacuation of civilians and the transport of humanitarian aid.

On Sunday, Mr Gaidai had reported that a Russian assault on Severodonetsk was underway with street fighting. He also said that the situation in Lyssychansk had "greatly worsened".

Severodonetsk, a city of 100,000 before the war, has been pounded with artillery for weeks by the Russian army and pro-Russian separatists fighting alongside it. Dozens of civilians were killed there.

Severodonetsk and Lysychank are located more than 80 km east of Kramatorsk, which has become the administrative center of Ukraine's Donbass since Moscow-backed separatists seized the eastern part of this large coalfield in 2014.