KYIV - Russian forces are trying to assault the east Ukrainian village of Berestove that lies on a main road linking the Luhansk region's city of Lysychansk to the rest of Ukraine, a Ukrainian general said on Thursday.

Russia is close to capturing all of Luhansk, one of two Ukrainian regions that make up the swathe of land known as the Donbas. Russian forces are also trying to attack the town of Sviatohirsk in the Donetsk region, General Oleksiy Gromov told a press briefing.

(Writing by Conor Humphries; editing by Tom Balmforth)