Russian troops have captured the recently contested, strategically important city of Severodonetsk in eastern Ukraine.

Both sides confirmed this on Saturday evening.

At the same time, Russia wants to transfer Iskander-type ground missiles to Belarus, which can also be equipped with nuclear-capable missiles.

President Vladimir Putin promised the Belarusian ruler Alexandr Lukashenko.

The transfer will take place in the next few months, Putin said at the meeting in St. Petersburg, according to the state agency TASS.

The Iskander-M could "carry both ballistic missiles and cruise missiles -- both conventional and nuclear," Putin said.

According to Russian media, they have a range of up to 500 kilometers.

According to Putin, Belarus' Su-25 fighter jets are also to be retrofitted.

"This modernization should be carried out in aircraft factories in Russia." Then these aircraft could also transport nuclear weapons.

Russians took several towns in the east

Ukraine announced its withdrawal from Severodonetsk on Friday.

"After units of our troops withdrew, the enemy got stuck in Severodonetsk," the Ukrainian General Staff said on Saturday.

Russia also reported in the evening that it had control of the city.

Pro-Russian fighters from the Luhansk People's Republic, with the support of Russian troops, "completely liberated" the city, said Russian Defense Ministry spokesman Igor Konashenkov.

Russian troops also claim to have taken the entire left bank of the Seversky Donets River in the Luhansk region.

Information from the war zone cannot be checked at all or only with difficulty.

According to Russian sources, the Azot chemical plant in Severodonetsk is controlled by pro-Russian units of the Luhansk separatists.

"The enemy's attempt to turn the industrial area (...) into a center of resistance was frustrated."

According to the separatists, 800 civilians were "evacuated" from the plant, according to the Russian news agency Interfax.

In the past few days, Russian forces had captured several towns in the Severodonetsk-Lysychansk conurbation.

Today only a few thousand people live in Severodonetsk.

In addition, troops loyal to Moscow are stationed on the southern outskirts of Lyssychansk.

The city has become the next target for Russian attacks.

Both artillery and the air force fired at Lysychansk, sources said.

The Ukrainian news agency Unian reported that the Dnipropetrovsk region had also been shelled with artillery.

According to Mayor Serhiy Sukhomlin, 24 rockets also fell in the vicinity of Shtomyr – a large city west of Kyiv.

Russian attacks also from Belarus

In the bitter fighting in eastern Ukraine, Russian troops say they killed almost 800 enemy soldiers within 24 hours - including 80 volunteer fighters from Poland.

The ex-Soviet republic under ruler Lukashenko actually describes itself as neutral in the war that has been going on for more than four months.

In the Lemberg (Lviv) region, the military compound in Yavoriv was once again the target of the attacks.

According to Ukrainian sources, six cruise missiles were shot down by ships in the Black Sea.

According to the Ukrainian air defense system, it was able to shoot down two missiles in the Khmelnytskyi area.

The rubble should not have caused any damage.

On the other hand, the Mykolaivka region in southern Ukraine reported a heavy attack.

A spokeswoman for the administration said the port infrastructure, residential areas and recreational areas were known to have been attacked by civilians.

There were also attacks on the Slovjansk-Kramatorsk-Kostjantynivka conurbation.

Moscow: More than 800 soldiers killed in Ukraine

In the bitter battle for eastern Ukraine, Russian troops say they killed almost 800 enemy soldiers within 24 hours - including 80 volunteer fighters from Poland.

The "mercenaries" were killed in a rocket attack on a zinc plant in the city of Kostyantynivka, the Defense Ministry said in Moscow.

A rocket attack on Mykolayiv in the south killed around 300 soldiers.

The government in Kyiv also reported heavy shelling in many areas.

The information could not be verified independently.