Every bridge leading to the besieged Ukrainian city of Severodonetsk have been destroyed, according to the local governor.
Serhiy Haidai asserts that transporting supplies and evacuating inhabitants is now impossible due to the city's isolation.
In the eastern city, Ukrainian officials claim that Russian artillery has driven Ukrainian forces out of the city center.
Capturing Severodonetsk has been Russia's primary military objective for weeks.
Taking Severodonetsk and the adjoining city of Lysychansk would give Moscow control of the whole Luhansk area, a large portion of which is currently under the authority of separatists supported by Russia.
Haidai's Telegram message stated that all three bridges leading into Severodonetsk had been damaged.
He added that those who remained in the city were compelled to survive in "very terrible conditions."
Jordan Gatley, a former British soldier, was among those slain while defending the city, his family said on Sunday.
Zelensky of Ukraine characterized the human cost of the war for the city as "terrifying." He added Ukrainian forces fought Russian forces "nearly every metre."
Based on reports, almost 70 percent of the city is currently under Russian control.
A military spokesperson of the self-proclaimed pro-Russian Donetsk People's Republic stated that surviving Ukrainian troops in the city must "surrender or die."
Eduard Basurin said the Ukrainian divisions in Severodonetsk are permanent.
A senior Russian official stated that Moscow's goal was to safeguard the self-proclaimed people's republics of Donetsk and Lugansk.
RIA Novosti quoted Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov as saying, "Generally speaking, the primary objective of the special military operation is the defense of the republics."
When Putin started the invasion on February 24, he stated that the objective was to "demilitarize and de-Nazify Ukraine." Later, a second purpose was added: preserving the neutrality of Ukraine.
Also on Monday, Ukrainian officials reported that Western-supplied weapons were not arriving as swiftly as expected.
A senior presidential adviser to Zelensky noted that in order to finish the war, Ukraine's military needed "parity in heavy weaponry" and posted a list of military assets that Kyiv needed.
An adviser to the Ukrainian defense minister told the BBC World Service's Newshour that heavy weaponry would have made the troops defending Severodonetsk more effective had they been delivered earlier.
The military is defending the city "as best we can" but would be "far more effective at repelling the aggressor and liberating Ukrainian territory if we had gotten more heavy equipment by now," Yury Sak said.
