Russian forces capture Ukraine’s Luthansk province, says Defence Minister
The Hindu
Ukrainian fighters spent weeks trying to defend Lysychansk and to keep it from falling to Russia
Russia's Defense Minister says Moscow's forces have taken control of the last major Ukrainian-held city in Ukraine's Luhansk province.
Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu told President Vladimir Putin on Sunday that “as a result of successful military operations, the armed forces of the Russian Federation, together with units of the People’s Militia of the Luhansk People’s Republic, have established full control over the city of Lysychansk,” Russian news agencies reported.
Ukrainian fighters spent weeks trying to defend Lysychansk and to keep it from falling to Russia, as neighboring Sievierodonetsk did a week ago. A presidential adviser predicted late Saturday that the city's could be determined within days.
Earlier Russian forces strengthened their positions in a grueling fight to capture the last stronghold of resistance in eastern Ukraine's Luhansk province, the region's governor said.
Ukrainian fighters have spent weeks trying to defend the city of Lysychansk, and to keep it from falling to Russia, as neighboring Sievierodonetsk did a week ago. A presidential adviser predicted its fate could be determined within days.
“The occupiers threw all their forces on Lysychansk. They attacked the city with incomprehensibly cruel tactics,” Luhansk governor Serhiy Haidai said on the Telegram messaging app. “They suffer significant losses, but stubbornly advance. They are gaining a foothold in the city.”
A river separates Lysychansk from Sievierodonetsk. Oleksiy Arestovych, an adviser to the Ukrainian president, said during an online interview late Saturday that Russian forces had managed for the first time to cross the river from the north, creating a “threatening” situation.