After weeks of resistance, Ukrainian troops have pulled back from the city of Rubizhne in Luhansk region, according to multiple reports from the area, writes CNN.

Video from the city shows intense fighting in its industrial outskirts on Thursday.

A bridge linking Rubizhne with neighboring Severodonetsk has been destroyed, suggesting the Ukrainians are taking up new defensive lines.

There has been no official confirmation from the Ukrainian General Staff that Ukrainian troops have left the outskirts of Rubizhne.

The General Staff reported on Friday only that “the enemy continues to focus its efforts on establishing full control over the settlement of Rubizhne”, a description repeated by the regional military administration.

Ukrainian officials reported earlier on Thursday that a nearby town had fallen to advancing Russian forces. And in its latest analysis, the Institute for the Study of War said that “Russian forces likely control almost all of Rubizhne as of May 12, and have likely seized the town of Voevodivka, north of Severdonetsk”.